Summary
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom was nominated for the "immersive" category at the Venice Film Festival.
- The film will be the first in Real Robot franchise to receive a screening at the event.
- The use of Meta Quest 2 and 3 for the 3D movie was deemed a major win for Bandai-Namco.
The groundbreaking VR film Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom has received a nomination for the "immersive" category at the Venice International Film Festival. This will make it the first piece of media in the expansive Real Robot franchise to receive a screening at the event, and the honor of being recognized for artistic vision.
The news broke on gundam.info's Silver Phantom website, which revealed the accolade. The Venice Festival's own website also lists the movie among a group of 26 that will be featured in a competition against one another in the Venice Immersive section of the event.
Whether or not it wins, the recognition by the event is a testament to the movie's artistic qualities, something the creative staff have been more than happy to note.
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom, which will see a commercial release later this year, uses Meta Platforms' (formerly Facebook) Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 headsets to display its immersive 3D animated movie. Set in Year 96 of the Universal Century, the movie uses VR technology to allow audiences to watch parts of the 90-minute movie from the perspective of an unnamed protagonist, making them exist inside the digital sets. The movie is a collaboration between Bandai-Namco Filmworks and the French company Atlas V, a production house that specializes in VR and AR experiences that lent their considerable experience.
The Gundam franchise has seen a bit of a resurgence lately. Gundam Seed Freedom recently broke Japanese box office records while the latest anime series, Witch From Mercury, was held in high regard by fans of the series. Given all this, Silver Phantom's nomination is another win for the world's most famous mech franchise.
The Venice Film Festival is the world's oldest film festival, being founded in 1932. The Venice Immersive section, which focuses on "Extended Reality" media, launched in 2017 and takes place on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, dubbed "Venice Immersive Island" during the festival. Silver Phantom will be screened between August 28 and September 7, alongside 26 competing movies, and 30 "out of competition" films. Nominated films are liable to win the "Grand Prize", "Special Jury Prize", or the "Achievement Prize". The movie, though not available for viewing yet, is being offered on the online Meta Quest store as a pre-order.
The movie's director, Kenichi Suzuki, commented on the nomination: "Gundam is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, and we are proud that this VR movie, which allows anyone to experience Universal Century, will be very exciting content. I want to tell my childhood self that I can participate in the world of Universal Century in a leading role." While the movie's format gives it a niche or gimmicky first impression, that this very same VR set-up earned such a prestigious nomination makes it difficult to argue against Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom's relevance amid Gundam's large library of critically acclaimed anime.
Source: Gundam.Info, Labiennale.org
