IDFA DocLab Spotlight

What does Greenland sound like at temperatures well below freezing? Electronic musician Molécule went on a journey with his microphone and translated the surroundings into this partly realistic, partly hallucinatory short VR-film.…

What does Greenland sound like at temperatures well below freezing? Musician Molécule went on a journey with his microphone and translated the surroundings into a thrilling electronic music film, which can be experienced once during IDFA as a dome performance in the ARTIS-Planetarium.…

A one-on-one performance pairing you with an artificial intelligence for a conversation about what it is to be human, in a genuine attempt to understand the relationship between man and machine. On-site reservation required.…

Exploring the possibilities of 360-degree in a dome experience to alter our sense of reality, Ayahuasca - Kosmik Journey follows the ritual as it is conducted by Shipibo shamans.…

This exhibition features different elements to learn about the spiritual ceremony as it’s conducted by Shipibo shamans, with the interactive VR installation Ayahuasca – A Kosmik Journey as centerpiece, giving each individual their own personal immersive experience. …

This interactive fairy tale interweaves the Taiwanese dictatorship of 1949-1987, today’s surveillance society, and belief in spirits. Through the eyes of deceased political prisoners, we see citizens being reduced to pure data. On-site reservation required.…

A powerful visualization of the cyclical links between climate change, air pollution and global migration. Through projections of scientific data on a dome-shaped screen, cause and effect become clear.…

Once Europe’s largest housing project, the Aylesbury Estate in London is being demolished. This interactive portrait explores the consequences of gentrification and offers background facts, using 360-degree video and 3-D environments. On-site reservation required.…

What better medium for documenting a land-grabbing conflict than a map? Forensic Architecture helped Bedouins to set up an interactive archive of their village, to chronicle its destruction by Israeli troops. …

With snapshots of household dinners from across cultural backgrounds, economic circumstances and family arrangements, this VR documentary gives us an unseen “place at the table,” where so much of family life plays out. On show in DocLab: Exhibition (free on-site reservation required) and as part of the DocLab VR-Cinema (regular ticket sales). …

A swipe to the right can lead to romance, but also to a bizarre or hilarious story. This series of animations charmingly explains the contemporary world of sex, love and relationships.…

Our world is made up of infinitely repeating geometric patterns called fractals. Special effects artist Julius Horsthuis uses algorithms to create new worlds where you can experience mathematical realities in free fall. …

Extinct animals can be stuffed and displayed, and vanished civilizations leave ruins, but when a language is no longer spoken, nothing remains but silence. This immersive VR production is a monument to languages that are in danger of disappearing.…

This research project follows the high-profile forensic investigation of a body reported to be that of Nazi physician Josef Mengele. It marked a shift towards a new forensic approach to war crimes and crimes against humanity.…

In digital models, objects sometimes appear that seem real, but that are geometrically impossible and couldn’t physically exist. In this dome projection, they acquire a physical presence through sound waves.…

Art through the eyes of artificial intelligence: a contradictory, entertaining and thought-provoking project that takes art aficionados out of their comfort zone. What happens if we play the same game with human intelligence?…

An investigation into abuses in two prisons run by counterterrorist units in Cameroon. The crime scenes and the human rights violations that took place there are reconstructed using public sources.…

The digital reconstruction of ruined cultural heritage: an idealistic act of defiance or neo-colonial appropriation? On either side of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph, destroyed by IS and replicated by an European institute, you see the two sides to this story.…

In aesthetic scenes, filmmaker Yves Gellie visits hospital patients and nursing home residents in France and Belgium to film their encounters with a robot. What happens when people and machines meet?…