Taiwanese theater and new media director Chou Tung-yen (周東彥)'s first VR work "In the Mist (霧中)" has been selected for the Special Event - Out of Competition category at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.
"In the Mist" reveals the unspeakable life experience of the gay community culture, exploring a male sauna through poetic lenses to take a peek into something that is hidden under the desire—the love without love (無愛之愛).
Chou applied VR technology into his film cleverly, allowing viewers to not only see the work, but also the character's inner loneliness.
In an interview with Central News Agency (CNA), Chou stated that although people often say that "love can overcome all problems," and "love is the answer to everything," but it's hard to describe love.
Chou previously produced a documentary titled "Looking For (你找什麼?)" which is a phrase that often appears in dating apps. He realized that as the answers increase, love only becomes more varied and difficult to clarify. Thus, in this VR film, he chose to delineate a story of a male sauna to further discuss the meaning of "the love without love." Additionally, he hopes to explore the nature of love from the work.
As most of the characters are naked in the film, Chou stated that it can be more consistent with the essence of the VR work, allowing audiences to experience more sensory stimulation.
According to the film censorship standard, Chou said that a film does not show lust if it presents boldly, and he also explores the boundary between love and lust. Some people are curious about whether the film can pass the censorship standard after being premiered at the Kaohsiung Film Festival last year, but overall, the majority of Taiwanese people can accept the film, he added.
"In the Mist" will be featured at the Venice Film Festival from Sep. 1 to 11, it is also slated to screen in Taiwan.
(Photo courtesy of Very Theatre)