Excited to share a new report that explores key themes and takeaways from last year’s IDFA DocLab.
Written by @kentbye , and produced with support from @weareagog this deep dive reflects on a field in motion—drawing on conversations with artists, curators, and practitioners who are actively shaping what immersive storytelling can become.
Whether you were there or not, there’s a lot here to dig into. The report explores:
** the opening and evolution of XR distribution models
** growing efforts to connect new audiences with immersive work
** artists using immersive media to imagine new and possible futures
** the rise of more collective, shared experiences
an ongoing exploration of what impact really means in this field
It’s a snapshot of a rapidly evolving space and an invitation to think about where immersive storytelling goes next.
Read the report at professionals.idfa.nl or via our bio
For the 20th edition of IDFA DocLab, we are looking for interdisciplinary works that move across art, documentary, and emerging technologies.
We welcome immersive installations, performances, digital and web-based works, games, audio projects, fulldome, interactive experiences and hybrid forms that don’t fit neatly into categories.
Selected projects will be presented in the DocLab exhibition and live program at the 39th edition of IDFA in Amsterdam, November 2026.
Find regulations, deadlines, FAQs, and submission details at idfa.nl/newmedia
**Early Deadline** for requesting presentation support grants & reduced entry fee: April 14
**Final Deadline** to apply: June 16
Image: Still from Deep Soup (Luna Maurer, Roel Wouters, 2025)
Want to help bring an exhibition to life? We're looking for an intern to join the IDFA DocLab team -> from June all the way through our festival in November. Working towards an exhibition of VR, interactive art & live performance. You'll be part of making it all happen, no two days the same.
3–4 days/week
Apply before April 19
for more info head to jobs.idfa.nl or apply via the link on our profile 🚀Internship
🌺 Announcing SHAPING BONDS 2026 🍄
As we find ourselves in a time characterised by accelerated change and an unnerving sense of uncertainty, Shaping Bonds turns its attention to the ecosystems that surround us, asking what they might teach about coexistence.
The five-day program, developed in collaboration with artists across disciplines, draws inspiration from swamps, fungi, and plankton, centring their historical, political, and cultural significance.
With immersive works, installations and workshops by Venus Jasper, Agnieszka Polska, Anagram, Polymorf, Duncan Speakman and RE-PEAT; a reading by and artist talk with Madeline Schwartzman; audiovisual performance by Jan van IJken & Jaime Peña; and film screenings of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 (2021), 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 (2022) and 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 (2025).
Full program and schedule at idfa.nl/shapingbonds.
📅 18 - 22 March, 2026
📍 IDFA's Het Documentaire Paviljoen, Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam
Once again, we’re deeply grateful for Kent Bye’s Voices of VR coverage of IDFA DocLab 2025 🎧 26 packed-to-the-brim episodes and 24+ hours of thoughtful conversations with artists working at the edge of documentary, technology, art and play.
Kent’s tireless curiosity and care in putting together this series invite us slow down and really understand all of the amazing works that were part of this years DocLab selection: beyond what we might have seen, heard, or read.
There’s no right order to listening, just dive in🌊 wherever your curiosity leads. Even if you couldn’t be at the festival or experience the works, this is your way into some of the most exciting and imaginative voices in the field.
Go to voicesofvr.com and look for DocLab
Tomorrow (Saturday) is the LAST day you can visit the DocLab Exhibition. The doors are open from 11:30 - 18:00, before we close down for this year.
Drop by at @brakkegrond , also to see this year's DocLab competition award winners 'Feedback VR, un musical antifuturista' and 'Artificial Sex (Ep. 1 & 2).'
Admission: Pay What You Want. Get a ticket online or at the exhibition entrance.
#idfadoclab
🏆 And the winners are...
On behalf of the entire DocLab team, we want to congratulate the award winners and special mentions in the DocLab competitions. You can still view and experience their awarded works at @brakkegrond , open today till 20:30 and tomorrow (last day!) till 18:00:
|| IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling ||
Winner: 'Artificial Sex (Ep. 1 & 2)' by Anan Fries
Special Mention: 'Coded Black' by Maisha Wester
|| IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction ||
Winner: 'Feedback VR, un musical antifuturista' by Claudix Vanesix for Collective AMiXR
Special Mention: 'Under The Same Sky' by Khalil Ashawi
--
Special thanks to the juries this year. For Digital Storytelling: Raul Niño Zambrano, Sanneke Huisman, and @tamarashogaolu . For Immersive Non-Fiction: @alaaminawi , @wijntjesbabette , and @jimmypierredegraaf .
#idfadoclab
Last few days to see 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 at @idfadoclab , until this Saturday.
📝 How do people around the globe interact with the internet on a daily basis? In what ways does it influence their lives—and how do they feel about that? For 15 years, Jeroen van Loon has been collecting handwritten letters on this subject. He now has over 1,400 letters from people of all ages, from many different cultures and from a wide range of occupations and backgrounds.
✍️ This unique archive of stories and personal experiences in many languages is now the centerpiece of a spatial and physical installation—where the letters are accompanied by video portraits of the writers, and visitors can reflect on the internet’s role in their daily lives. Rather than chronologically, the hundreds of letters are presented in an associative way. The installation also incorporates a writing desk where visitors are invited to recount their own experiences.
📝 This is the first time this long-term project is being presented on such a large scale. It’s central question is this: Do we need the internet in our lives?
✍️ Recipient of the @nederlandsfilmfonds DocLab Interactive Grant 2025
Bookbinding by Gijs Wortel
Graphic design by @k.chen._
Lecterns by @vladirapaport
Room production by @popkraft1.0
Photos by @roger_cremers
Hoe voelt oorlog echt aan? Mandy gaat in gesprek met kunstenaar en voormalig oorlogscorrespondent Karim Ben Khelifa. Hij maakte de kunstinstallatie 'In 36,000 Ways', waarin je wordt geconfronteerd met een granaatscherf, een van de vele metalen fragmenten die de maker van deze installatie verzamelde aan de frontlinies in Oekraïne.
IDFA DocLab laat zien dat documentaire veel meer kan zijn dan film in de bioscoop. Kijk de reportage op npodoc.nl via de link in bio.
#documentaires #IDFA #documentairefestival #doclab #oorlog #installatiekunst #oekraine #cherson
With DocLab Playrooms happening today and tomorrow at de Brakke Grond, here's a recap of the previous one.
It was a blast: a collective experience with games and web documentaries on the big screen. With walkthroughs, demos, presentations, and Q&As by @vyle , @alienmeloooooooooon , @header_munging , @westermaisha@janrothuizen , @vitorfreire , and @moniquegrimord .
Right now, we're opening DocLab Playroom: I Feel Zine in de Rode Zaal, where you can create your own zine with Nathalie Lawhead's Electric Zine Maker, write letters about internet culture with @jeroen_van_loon , and join @wemakevr 's Avinash Changa, who presents his tools to address the challenges (and opportunities) of preserving and future-proofing immersive art.
The playrooms (free walk-ins) take place today and tomorrow from 14:00 - 17:00 in the Rode Zaal of @brakkegrond . No ticket needed - come join us.
#idfadoclab
IDFA DocLab laat zien dat documentaire veel meer kan zijn dan film in de bioscoop. Mandy duikt voor ons in de Lesbian Simulator, een VR-ervaring van Iris van der Meule, die herkenning biedt voor lesbische vrouwen én inzicht voor iedereen die wil begrijpen wat hun queer vrienden, collega’s of familie meemaken.
Kijk de reportage vanaf maandag 17 november op npodoc.nl via de link in bio.
@irisvdmeule@studiobiarritznl@next.playgrounds
#documentaires #IDFA #documentairefestival #doclab #LGBTQIA #queer #lesbiansimulator #vr #innovation
Yesterday a visitor mentioned that you don't fully know what to expect of DocLab until you experience it. That's what the DocLab Exhibition is all about: sensing, perceiving, playing, doing. Being present.
These photos give a glimpse of the first two days of celebrating digital art in a physical space.
The DocLab Exhibition is open every day from 11:30 to 20:30 at @brakkegrond , closing on Saturday, 22 November at 18:00. Admission is on a pay-what-you-want basis. Get a ticket online or at the entrance.
(Photos by @roger_cremers for IDFA. Except for photo 3: @boevejan )
#idfadoclab
