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Empire at Sea, Peter Flaherty’s 22-minute mixed reality drama, won the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize on 12 September 2026. La Biennale di Venezia announced the prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
Out of the Ashes, a 26-minute virtual reality documentary co-directed by Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña, won the Special Jury Prize. The Grand Prize went to The Pigeon Ring by Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang, from China. A jury chaired by Paul Raphaël, with Négar Motevalymeidanshah and Kate Voet, judged the 30 projects in competition.
Up to 10 audience members watch holograms around a custom interactive LED table, according to the Agog release. At a full ten audience members every 22 minutes, the ceiling is near 27 guests an hour before turnaround. That is arithmetic on the published group size and runtime.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and ASU Gammage commissioned Empire at Sea. Lincoln Center has scheduled it for January 2027. Flaherty Pictures, 4DV.ai and NightLight Labs developed it, with support from Agog, the Schwarzman Center at Yale University and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Out of the Ashes covers the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. Courtney B. Vance narrates. The documentary rebuilds participants’ homes in volumetric form, made in part from their family photos and videos. It closes on three recovery groups: My Tribe Rise, Evolve Altadena and the Palisades Recovery Coalition.
The Mercantile Agency, Emblematic Group and Arizona State University’s MA in Narrative and Emerging Media programme co-produced it. Agog and the MacArthur Foundation supported it. The festival line-up lists it as a virtual reality installation. Its Biennale credits name 4DV.ai on the technical team.
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, founded by Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt, supported three of the 30 works in competition. Two of them, Empire at Sea and Out of the Ashes, won prizes. The third is Solwata.
“Wendy Schmidt and I founded Agog on the belief that immersive media can bring people closer to urgent issues and help them imagine what change could look like,” said Chip Giller, co-founder and executive director of Agog.
For presenting venues, Lincoln Center, which commissioned Empire at Sea with ASU Gammage, has scheduled it for January 2027. For immersive studios, Empire at Sea and Out of the Ashes both credit 4DV.ai. Agog supported both, alongside the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation on Empire at Sea and the MacArthur Foundation on Out of the Ashes.
Who won the 2026 Venice Immersive awards? The Pigeon Ring by Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang won the Grand Prize. Out of the Ashes by Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña won the Special Jury Prize. Empire at Sea by Peter Flaherty won the Achievement Prize.
When were the Venice Immersive prizes announced? On 12 September 2026, at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The jury judged 30 projects in competition.
Where can Empire at Sea be seen next? Lincoln Center has scheduled Empire at Sea for January 2027.
What is Out of the Ashes about? The January 2025 Los Angeles fires. The 26-minute documentary, narrated by Courtney B. Vance, rebuilds participants’ homes in volumetric form, in part from family photos and videos.
