VR EFFECT! Virtual Reality Cinema

The National Museum of Cinema reopens to the public on May 19th 2021 with a renewed set-up showing CineVR, its new area dedicated to virtual reality. It was produced in partnership with Rai Cinema and is replacing the two areas dedicated to “3D” and “Amore&Morte”, two out of the thirteen “chapelles” surrounding the Temple Hall, the true heart of the Museum and of the Mole Antonelliana itself, the symbol of the city of Turin. The Museum’s decision to open its doors to VR comes from the collaboration with Rai Cinema, aiming to strengthen the popularisation of digital culture, innovation and new technologies related to cinema.

CineVR is the first Italian permanent movie theatre completely dedicated to VR which features a non-stop daily programme, screening movies conceived and realised with this technique. This theatre may contain every day up to 200 viewers who can enjoy audio-visual experiences, both linear and interactive for free -with their admission ticket-  thanks to 6 state-of-the-art visors (namely, Pico G2 4k models and, at a later date, Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive).

New group screenings with VR visors will be scheduled every month as well as meetings with experts or industry professionals will be arranged in partnership with Rai Cinema. Solely upon reservation,  visitors will be able to preview movies from the forty chaise longues in the Temple Hall; those same movies will be uploaded on the visors of the two lounge rooms the following day, thus implementing a video-library whose new titles will become part of the Museum’s collection.

Visitors of the National Museum of Cinema will be able to pick one of the movies available in the visors’ library and reserve a viewing directly from the virtual reality desk. Movies will be screened on a loop while a technologically advanced hygienic system allows to sanitise the visors in one minute, ensuring the standards required by present regulations.

Rai Cinema decided to donate to the Museum its earliest three VR productions: short films “Happy Birthday” and “Revenge Room” and the documentary “Lockdown” will be the first three contents of the Museum VR programme. They are innovative productions representing an editorial policy that combines technological innovation, the focus on social issues and our country’s cultural identity.  Whilst never forgetting the importance of movie theatres, Rai Cinema is proud to take virtual reality into a new and stimulating context. It is an opportunity to consider new consumption models and to engage a young audience thanks to renewed, experimental forms of expressions and of new forms of cinematographic storytelling.

Screening programme

For upcoming events, we recommend checking the Museum’s website calendar

Revenge Room by Gennaro Coppola (2020, 8’), features Eleonora Gaggero, Luca Chikovani, Manuela Morabito and Violante Placido, with a special appearance by Alessio Boni. This is a cross-platform tale with a strong social value, dealing with revenge porn, a subject of particular relevance (both in linear and 360° VR versions). Revenge Room is a One More Pictures production in partnership with Rai Cinema.

Happy Birthday by Lorenzo Giovenga (2019, 8’), features Jenny De Nucci and Fortunato Cerlino, with a special appearance by Achille Lauro. This is a transmedia project on a complex subject such as social isolation defined by the Japanese term “hikikomori”, which is increasingly popular among young and very young people (both in linear and 360° VR versions). Revenge Room is a One More Pictures production in partnership with Rai Cinema.

Lockdown 2020. l’Italia invisibile by Omar Rashid (2020, 12’) is a docufilm that depicts the unique journey across the beauty and desolation of the most important Italian art cities during the Covid-19 pandemic, through VR and the voices of Matilde Gioli and Vinicio Marchioni. Lockdown 2020. l’Italia invisibile is a Gold production in partnership with Rai Cinema.

Due to the immersive technology of VR devices, the use of VR headsets is allowed only to people over 12 and is not recommended to pregnant women, people with epilepsy, heart or visual conditions, and people with pace-makers, cochlear implants, hearing aids