From Dust by Michel van der Aa © doubleA Foundation

The Jury of the Immersive Competition of the 78th Festival de Cannes presented today the Best Immersive Work Award to From Dust, created by Michel van der Aa, recognizing a creation that pushed the boundaries of storytelling, art space, and audience engagement.

The Jury, chaired by French director Luc Jacquet included American musician, director and writer Laurie Anderson, French author and performer Tania de Montaigne, British director, screenwriter, and artist Martha Fiennes and Japanese video game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Together, they explored a selection that invited viewers into immersive worlds where technology and feelings intersect.

Returning for its second edition, the Immersive Competition was hosted at the iconic Carlton Hotel, transformed into a showcase of the future of entertainment that accommodated over 5,000 bookings made this year — a strong sign of the growing interest in immersive experiences as a new artistic form.

This year’s official selection featured 16 works from 9 countries: 9 in competition, 2 non-competitive, and 5 in a special Focus on Luxembourg.

“We are witnessing the emergence of a new narrative form — still imprecisely called ‘immersive art,’ a term too broad to capture the richness and diversity of the languages now unfolding through technology. As a jury, we were asked to engage with these bold, forward-looking voices and select one among them — never an easy task. We approached the works with the breadth of our varied perspectives and the shared sense of being part of a field that is still taking shape, but full of promise.”

Luc Jacquet, Immersive Competition Jury President

“The Immersive Competition is about creating space for new ways of storytelling — where the relationship between audience, narrative, and space can be reimagined. These works explore how immersion can shape perception and open up different kinds of artistic engagement. We see this as a step forward in recognising immersive creation as a distinct and evolving art form.”

Elie Levasseur, Head of Immersive

“It’s a great honor for me to be nominated for this prestigious Festival and even greater honor to win. It’s truly out of this world !”

Michel van der Aa, Director of From Dust

By inviting the audience to step into new dimensions of narrative experience, the Immersive Competition continues the Festival’s commitment to explore art — honoring creators who are not only redefining the future of storytelling, but shaping the way we experience art itself.

Courtesy of FDC