VR Showcase: A Journey through Virtual Asia

In 2024 CinemAsia launches the inaugural XR programme VIRTUASIA, introducing Dutch audiences to the best immersive works from the VR/XR powerhouse countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Prepare to move beyond the edge of your seats, and dive right into the worlds and cultures you’ve previously only seen on festival screens. Put on the headsets and join step into the incredible new worlds together with us.

Gina Kim’s US Military Comfort Women Trilogy

In 2017, Gina KIM, an acclaimed South Korean filmmaker, has turned to immersive technology to further investigate the issue of ethics of representation. KIM’s US military comfort women trilogy transforms the controversial issue of crimes by the US military personnel stationed in South Korea into an embodied experience of a viewer. The first piece of the trilogy Bloodless (2017), shot at the actual military brothel, won multiple awards, including the Best VR Story Award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine selected Bloodless as the Best VR Storytelling of 2017, praising the film as a “12-minute immersive stunner.” The first instalment was followed by Tearless in 2020, and Comfortless in 2023. Together, the three works, released over 6 years, constitute one of the most impressive projects in VR, which we are incredibly proud to present in the form of a dedicated retrospective at the center of our first Virtuasia programme.