SAT Fest brings boundary-pushing immersive cinema to Montreal from March 21 to 24

Long before Las Vegas got the Sphere, Montreal got the Satosphere. The dome theatre within the SAT (Société des arts technologiques) was inaugurated in 2011, but this week, the newly renovated space will be inaugurated with the annual immersive film festival known as SAT Fest.

From March 21 to 24, SAT Fest will screen 33 immersive films from 10 countries inside the Satosphere. The wide range of films will cover various genres, from animation to traditional narrative storytelling to more unusual film experiences. Utilizing technology we more often associate with shows at the Planetarium, artists now have the opportunity to take advantage of a 360-degree screen to fully explore the limits of the medium.

SAT Fest immersive Montreal film festival — “Fluid Symphony” by Raphael Dufour

Among the featured filmmakers are artists such as Lydia Yakonowsky (Canada), Sergey Prokofyev (Germany), Maarten Isaak De Heer (Netherlands) and Sébastien Labrunie (France) — already winners of the competitive component of the last edition of the SAT Fest — as well as a return of artists such as Rocco Helmchen (Germany), Meisam Nemati (Canada) and Sandrine Deumier (France).

Over three nights, each program will last approximately one hour, with works of art ranging from 2 to 10 minutes. Audiences are invited to experience a singular experience that will challenge the very confines of screen art as we know it, given that the Satosphere is a 13-metre-high, spherical projection screen. According to the SAT, a new projection system optimizes image quality and immersion with eight state-of-the-art laser projectors, while the revamped sound system features 93 speakers, allowing for spatialized audio definition.

For the first time, SAT Fest will also feature a professional component this year, including workshops and activities focused on works of art for dome technology (FullDome) and opportunities for the public to get a sneak peek behind the scenes to better understand how the technology works.

The festival will also have a jury of artists and immersion experts who will award the best films. On Sunday night, an audience award will also be presented. All award-winning films will be included in the SAT Fest 2024 compilation, which will be broadcast from March 27 to May 4.

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For more on SAT Fest, which runs from March 21–24th at SAT (1201 St-Laurent), please visit their website.

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