Sydney fest launches world-first immersive 3D AI experience, inspired by Fritzl dungeon

Sydney Film Festival will present Scenario, the first 360-degree 3D artificially intelligent cinema, in conjunction with the University of New South Wales’ iCinema Research Centre.

“How brilliant that this world-leading technology, which foreshadows the future of 3D cinema, has been generated in Sydney,” said SFF director Clare Stewart.

Scenario, created by Dennis Del Favero and written by Stephen Sewell, is “adapted” from the Fritzl dungeon case in Austria.  In Scenario, the audience meets the humanoid Elizabeth K, who has been imprisoned in a concealed basement, along with her four children by her father, who lives above ground with his daytime family. Elizabeth K and her children take the audience through a number of subterranean spaces, looking for a way to escape.

“Two decades ago, if I had described Facebook, you wouldn’t have believed it. You would have thought: ‘how is that possible?’ But now it’s increasingly becoming our public forum, where we meet and interact. It could potentially be the same with AI cinema. The future could very well surprise us,” said Del Favero.

Scenario is a two-way narrative where the 3D-animated characters have artificial intelligence, so no two screenings will be the same as audience and characters interact to create the story. It was developed with the assistance of AI scientist Maurice Pagnucco and an UNSW multidisciplinary team.