As parts of the Virtual Reality offerings at Animaze 2016, the festival will be shining a spotlight on director Patrick Osborne’s latest short film and VR experience, PEARL, for Google Spotlight Stories.

Running August 18-21, this year’s edition of the Montreal International Animation Film Festival & Industry Conference, which is presented by TELETOON, is spotlighting VR with immersive Virtual Reality Cinema and Dome experiences. In a Canadian first, the festival has partnered with Fulldome.pro to bring its revolutionary portable 360-degree dome -- which has been featured at E3 and Burning Man -- to Montreal.

Premiering at the Animaze Dome is immersive VR environment APES, created by filmmaker George Snow. Also on deck is Samskara, a psychedelic immersive digital art exhibit from digital artist and ILM alum Android Jones, who specializes in immersive experiences and whose work has been projected on the Empire State Building and the Vatican.

But the real treat is Osborne’s PEARL. The Oscar-winning director’s 360-degree short will be screened at Animaze 2016 as part of two screening blocks -- “Brave New World” and “Human Nature” -- on Friday, August 19. The film will be also presented on Google Cardboard in a specially installed 360-degree Dome as part of the Animaze Industry Conference at Hotel 10.

The latest installment of the Google Spotlight Stories series, PEARL breaks new ground in both storytelling and technology, employing the largest amount of shots, sets and characters, with custom lighting, effects and interactive surround sound in every shot. The 360-degree interactive version of the film was previewed earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Interactive Playground, as well as the VR Village at SIGGRAPH 2016.

Set inside the beloved hatchback that serves as their home, PEARL follows a girl and her father as they crisscross the country chasing their dreams in a story about the gifts we hand down, their power to carry love, and finding grace in the unlikeliest of places. Produced with Evil Eye Pictures, the short is anchored by the original song “No Wrong Way Home,” written by Alexis Harte & JJ Wiesler and performed by Kelley Stoltz and Nicki Bluhm.

Check out the 360-degree video and the trailer:

Source: Montreal International Animation Film Festival & Industry Conference