Rencontres (Encounters) - Villa Albertine

Rencontres（Encounters) is a sensory journey through space and time, linking a saturated, unlivable “modern” world with its possible calmer future, where time for dialogue and self-knowledge take precedence. The experience for 6 people equipped with virtual reality headsets takes place in a 10m x 5m space (60 sq yd) and allows various interactions. An asynchronous dialog between participants unfolds in the epilogue where each participant can address a next one, for an expression lasting the time of a breath. The aim is to rediscover the thread of a simple, apparently naive idea, that of concerted collective action, resulting from dialog and, above all, from listening.

The project, a French-Taiwanese coproduction, is written and directed by Mathieu Pradat. It is produced by La prairie productions (Paris/Marseille), SoWhen? (Paris), Serendipity films (Taipei) and Tainan University for the arts (Tainan).

The experience Encounters puts users, i.e. spectators immersed in this interactive work, in the grips of inextricable situations they already know, but which they will be able to push to their limits and find the thread of a solution when they least expect it. This project is an invitation to connect with others, and ultimately with ourselves.

The directors

Mathieu Pradat

Mathieu Pradat is a filmmaker working in the fields of virtual reality and cinema. Trained as an architect, his practice is rooted in the growing interaction between the virtual and real worlds, as territories carrying stories and emotions.
He explores both linear and interactive narrative forms. His projects have been selected for numerous festivals, including Mostra di Venezia – Venice Immersive, Cannes Immersive, GIFF (Geneva International Film Festival), B3 (Frankfurt Biennale) and the Locarno festival La Rotonde. Mathieu Pradat gives classes for AR/VR writing and staging at the Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 and in high schools. He is a 2022 Villa Albertine laureate and a member of the Massachussets Institute of Technology’s Open Documentary Lab since 2022. In 2010, he founded La prairie productions, an immersive content and film production company. Mathieu Pradat lives in Marseille, is married and has one child.

General Informations

Director : Mathieu Pradat

Production Company : La prairie productions (executive producer), SoWhen ?, Serendipity films, Tainan university for the Arts. Supported by CNC and TAICCA.

Year of creation : 2024

Incubated at the MIT Open Doc Lab.

Awards : Taïwan XR residency 2021 in partnership between New Images Film Festival, Kaohsiung Film Festival, VR Film Lab, Bureau Français à Taïpei.

Selections: Venice Immersive 2024, Museum of Sciences of Boston (exhibition Power(s) of Waters) 2024, Cinemania 2025.

Minimum Age : 12-13

No dialogues

Technical Informations

Format : Multi-user immersive free roaming installation in VR.

Content : Poetic, Anthropocene, Experimental, Participative / “Encounters” is a sensory journey through space and time, linking a “modern” era that has become uncertain to its possible future.

Duration : 40-45 minutes depending on group interactions.

Number of participants per session : 6

Equipment : 6 VR HTC Vive Focus Headsets + 1 spare, 1 mini computer, 1 screen + 1 5G Router.

Time to set up : 1 hour

Device : HTC Vive Focus Headsets

Surface area : 50 m² / 60 sq yd