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Finding Frida, a 41-minute VR documentary experience about Norwegian textile artist Frida Hansen, premiered on 2 September 2026 in competition at Venice Immersive. Hilde K. Kjøs directed it. Cecilie Levy, Hansen’s great-great-granddaughter, wrote the script and guides the viewer through the experience.
Venice Immersive is the extended-reality section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. La Biennale di Venezia set the 2026 Venice Immersive edition on Lazzaretto Vecchio for 2 to 12 September. Finding Frida is one of 30 works in the Venice Immersive competition.
UploadVR reported that Hansen was internationally recognised as a textile artist in her lifetime and that her work later faded from public view.
The experience opens on a miniature Art Nouveau villa that expands to full scale. Inside, archival photographs, a gramophone and Hansen’s woven works act as portals into her life. A garden withers as the experience reaches her bankruptcy and personal loss. Four female figures then appear, foreshadowing her work Semper Vadentes, according to the festival synopsis.
The production combines photorealistic 3D scans, animated artwork and projections with an original score by Sigrid Anita Haugen. According to UploadVR, the voice-over draws on interviews with Hansen and contemporary historical sources. Tone Danielsen and Levy lead the cast.
The creator’s statement on the La Biennale programme page calls Finding Frida “a documentary VR experience where past and present intertwine”. It says the experience explores “how VR allows resonance to travel back and forth through time”.
Finding Frida is Kjøs’s first VR project, though she has worked with the medium since 2019, UploadVR reported. Producer Bjørn-Morten Nerland has more than 15 years in immersive projects and founded RippleX Studios in Oslo.
La Biennale lists two production companies: RippleX Studios and Scopic BV of Amsterdam, with Justin Karten producing for Scopic.
The Norwegian Film Institute lists five grants to the project between November 2021 and August 2026. The five listed amounts add up to NOK 3,547,000. The two earliest went to Stargate Media AS, and the three since 2024 to RippleX Studios.
Finding Frida premiered as an XR installation. Its press notes also list PCVR and standalone formats.
A representative for the project told UploadVR that Venice is the starting point for the international launch. A festival and exhibition run is planned in Norway and elsewhere. The representative said the project is exploring distribution partnerships. RippleX Studios handles world sales, according to La Biennale.
For museums and cultural venues, Finding Frida is a 41-minute installation about Norwegian textile artist Frida Hansen. For exhibition programmers, RippleX Studios in Oslo holds world sales ahead of the planned run in Norway and elsewhere. For XR producers, the Norwegian Film Institute funded the project through five grants between November 2021 and August 2026.
What is Finding Frida? A 41-minute VR documentary experience about Norwegian textile artist Frida Hansen, directed by Hilde K. Kjøs. It premiered on 2 September 2026 in competition at Venice Immersive.
Who guides the VR documentary experience? Cecilie Levy, Hansen’s great-great-granddaughter, who also wrote the script.
What formats does Finding Frida use? It premiered as an XR installation. Its press notes also list PCVR and standalone formats.
Where will Finding Frida show next? A festival and exhibition run is planned in Norway and elsewhere.
Who produced and funded it? RippleX Studios of Oslo and Scopic BV of Amsterdam produced it. The Norwegian Film Institute awarded five grants between 2021 and 2026.
