Immersive VR love story "Marco & Polo Go Round" launches Valentines Day onSteam and HTC Viveport.
Marco & Polo Go Round is an immersive love story written by Gregory Kaufman and Benjamin Steiger Levine and directed by Benjamin Steiger Levine.
On the morning of his birthday, Marco joins his girlfriend Polo in the kitchen but something strange is going on. The chairs are battened to the floor and the cupboard and fridge doors are taped shut, as if to protect themselves from an impending storm. Polo doesn’t seem to notice. She’s just excited to present him with the cake she has just made. Gradually the dissensions within the couple surface and the joyful atmosphere quickly turns to shock as the objects come loose and start to fly around them.
Marco & Polo Go Round immerses the viewer into a young couple’s intimate relationship and invites them to physically experience the crisis they are going through, as they navigate this distorted, topsy-turvy world.
Marco & Polo Go Round is VR narrative experience produced using volumetric capture recorded in live motion to preserve the actors' glance and movements, coupled with traditional animation and virtual physical simulations.
Benjamin Steiger Levine depicts life through unexpected stories that are both touching and disturbing. This balance between charm and discomfort, humanity and visual wonder, is at the heart of his work.
"Marco and Polo are perfectly complementary characters. They are totally different but these differences compensate for what the other lacks. These differences also separate them. Marco takes his time, he believes that truth can only exist in a perfectly gray space. Polo is a ball of fire, and for her, truth means expressing her opinion loud and clear" explains Benjamin Steiger Levine, director of Marco & Polo Go Round.
MARCO & POLO GO ROUND will be available on February 14th on Steam and Viveport.
A virtual reality fiction (6DOF) on Steam and HTC Viveport, a 360° video on YouTube and a short film on ARTE.tv and YouTube.
Written by Gregory Kaufman and Benjamin Steiger Levine
Directed by Benjamin Steiger Levine
With : Léane Labrèche-Dor and Emmanuel Schwartz
A co-production of Item 7 and Belga Productions, with the participation of ARTE.
Edited by ARTE France.
About ARTE
Founded in 1992, ARTE is a European public cultural television channel and digital network focusing on creation and innovation. Over the past ten years, ARTE has co-produced a number of interactive games such as Inua, Unmaze, Homo Machina, Vandals, Type:Rider, The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature and Vectronom. More information on the official website and the Twitter page of Arte Interactif
ABOUT ITEM 7
Item 7 is a Montreal-based film production company headed by Pierre Even. Since its inception in 2009, Item 7 has produced 17 feature films, including Jean-Marc Vallée's CAFÉ DE FLORE, Kim Nguyen's Oscar-nominated WAR WITCH (REBELLE), and co-produced John Crowley's BROOKLYN, starring Saoirse Ronan. Recently released films include Kim Nguyen's THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard. In 2021, Lina Roessler's first feature film, BEST SELLERS, was presented at the Berlinale. This Canadian-British co-production stars Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza. MARIA CHAPDELAINE, written and directed by Sébastien Pilote, and the VR short MARCO & POLO GO ROUND, Item 7's first foray into virtual reality, will open in 2021.
ABOUT BELGA
Belga Productions specializes in assisting European film co-productions that carry out all or part of their production process in Belgium (principal photography, post-production, special effects). For example, in 2015 and 2016, Belga Productions provided co-production and production services to several large-scale international film projects, such as Thomas Vinterberg's "Kursk" or EuropaCorp's "Renegades". Belga Productions has also assisted several local productions in their production and financing efforts, notably by soliciting and obtaining local regional funds. Thanks to its links with Belga Films Fund and the Belga Films Group, the largest independent film distributor in the Benelux, Belga Productions offers a unique solution to European producers who are considering producing in Belgium: financing through its internal Tax Shelter Fund, distribution in the Benelux (including TV production deals), production services, application for regional funds, etc.
