DOK Exchange XR 2024
Experts
Meet this year’s experts
Ágnes Karolina Bakk, Ph.D., is the head and lead researcher of the Immersion and Interaction Hub at the Innovation Center of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest. As a narrative designer, she focuses on immersive theatrical formats, storytelling, and the science of magic. Her research includes romantic relationships in Metaverse-like environments and psychological restoration in VR. She founded Zip-Scene and co-founded Random Error Studio and Vektor VR section. She teaches and speaks globally, and co-edited Designing Immersive Environments - Enchanting Spaces, forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan in Oct 2024.
Janieke Bekasinski has a background as Digital Artist and works as Project Coordinator for Immersive Media at MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel. She is a contact person for inquiries about events, funding and applications for XR & Immersive projects.
Ela Bittencourt is a writer and critic who moved to Berlin after living in New York and São Paulo. She has written widely about the moving image and visual arts for publications such as Artforum, Frieze Magazine, ArtNewspaper, and Hyperallergic, and is currently expanding her research to immersive experiences. In the past, she presented film programmes in the United States and Brazil. She also consults on programming for IDFA and Venice Days.
Jutta Brendemühl is an international arts programmer & writer. Engagements: Goethe-Institut; UKAI Projects; EU Film Festival Toronto; Toronto Arab Film; North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative; Toronto Cultural Leaders Lab. Juries & mentoring incl. Hot Docs; Toronto Jewish Film Festival; DOK Leipzig; Kassel Documentary Festival; ArtworxTO.
XR Curator and Producer currently responsible for Immersive programming at Tribeca Festival. In 2020-22 Head of Studio at Kaleidoscope. She collaborates with public funds (Creative Europe MEDIA), NGO, universities and business. Former Discovery Group Producer and Director, and Multimedia Lead at the Grand Theatre–National Opera in Warsaw. The author of awarded documentary and VR projects.
Beata Calińska is an experimental creator and programmer based in Los Angeles. She is the Associate Director of the Digital Innovation Initiative at the Los Angeles Music Center, reflecting changes in culture, technology, and environment, and embracing new ways of innovation. From 2019 to 2024, she managed the Sundance Institute’s New Frontier programmes and produced “The Spaceship,” which won a Webby Award.
Claudia Cox, also known under her hyperpop moniker Peri Winkle, who, in addition to her work as an artist and vocalist, opened Wiener Festwochen as a violinist and acrobat. Clauda is part of the duo Only Slime, which combines their background in punk, classical music, computer games, free jazz, acrobatics, hyperpop, experimental theatre, electronic music, film, XR production, and programming. The duo seeks a playful limitlessness through vastly different mediums and artistic modes of expression.
Awarded audio director, composer and metamusician based in Warsaw, Poland. PhD in spatial and interactive audio, Assistant Professor at Fryderyk Chopin University of Music at the Sound Engineering Department. Guest lecturer at Visual Narratives Laboratory in Film School Lodz and Fine Arts Academy in Warsaw. Spatial and interactive audio expert. His latest works include immersive music documentaries, interactive 6DoF VR performances and experiences, and also immersive journalism.
Dr Rob Eagle is a lecturer, researcher and artist, working across performance, film and interactive and immersive media. Rob is currently a Teaching Fellow in Cultural and Creative Industries at the University of Leeds. Previously, they were a Research Fellow with the British Film Institute and XR Stories (University of York) and lecturer in virtual and extended realities at the University of the West of England.
Uta has been working for the Creative Europe Desk MEDIA Berlin-Brandenburg since 2005. The Desk is one of five information offices in Germany for the Creative Europe Programme, a six years programme of the European Commission to support the cultural and creative sectors. As a regional contact point for media professionals we advise on European funding possibilities and assist applicants with their applications. In collaboration with international partners the Creative Europe Desks also offer information- and networking events to support professionalisation as well international and cross sectoral cooperation.
Cenk Güzelis is a creative technologist and new media artist researching and teaching at ./studio3, Institute for Experimental Architecture, Innsbruck University. He co-founded Me AndOther Me, a studio exploring the future of spatial experiences and communication through social mixed reality, online culture, post-human critique, and the spatial web. Güzelis also serves on the board of CSC Immersive Arts in Venice, the Immersive Arts Department of Italy’s National Film School.
Tom C. Hall is an award-winning stereographer, cameraman and virtual reality filmmaker. Tom habitually explores how emerging technology can enable storytellers to better connect with their audiences and drive the art form of cinema forward. A pioneer in virtual reality filmmaking, Tom is consistently pushing the envelope of what the future of narrative storytelling could be in the 21st century.
Daniela is the executive director and programmer of ART*VR, the Prague-based festival of virtual reality and immersive art established in 2023. Besides from her work in XR, she is the head of acquisitions of the documentary VOD platform DAFilms, and a researcher of film festivals.
Creative XR Producer specialises in transmedia projects and multimedia performance that deal with interactive media such as VR, AR and Games. She works as a freelancer for national & international companies, contributing to production of projects like “Cabinets of Wonder VR”, “Urania Culture Palace”, “Dans Drauganna” (VR Experience WIP). She is currently working for Reynard Film and Yaga Studio in Leipzig.
Multi-award-winning, Emmy & Golden Reel-nominated supervising sound editor, sound designer, and mixing engineer. Founder of 1.618 Digital, Oliver has led over 200 immersive projects since 2014, delivering spatial and interactive audio for VR, MR, AR, and 360 media on platforms like Meta, Apple, and Google, across sectors such as film, gaming, virtual training, brand content, and location-based installations.
As the founder and CEO of INVR.SPACE GmbH and reallifefilm Sönke Kirchhof has been involved in more than 500 projects. Having worked in the field of documentary filmmaking and XR documentaries for more than a decade, Sönke has produced astonishing documentaries such as Kusunda, Ernst Grube, Blended Isolations and African Space Makers.
Ellen is the Head of XR Market at the NewImages Festival in Paris. She works closely with industry professionals to facilitate co-production and co-financing for immersive projects in development, as well as finished content for distribution. She is also an experienced XR producer and programmer, with a focus on exhibitions and art museums.
Ana Monte is a leading expert in spatial audio, co-founder, and sound designer at DELTA Soundworks. Ana specialises in creating immersive audio content that places listeners inside the story across formats like XR, Fulldome, and Themed Attractions. She draws inspiration for authentic soundscapes from her deep interest in different cultures and her experience as a sound recordist and sound designer for documentaries.
Allison Moore is a media artist working in expanded cinema and based in Montréal and holds an MFA from Concordia University. Her work has been programmed at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, le Grand théâtre du Québec, Society of Art and Technology (Montreal), Place des Arts (Montreal), Tokyo Arts and Space, ARS Electronica, MUTEK and ISEA. Her projects involve thematic inspirations of storytelling narratives in digital arts, video-mapping, VR, public art and performance.
Fabian Mrongowius is an independent producer for all things XR and new media. Through his career, Fabian has worked with many different formats such as VR, AR, volumetric video, metaverse and web3 experiences with diverse partners including content brands, creative agencies or cultural institutions.
Gayatri Parameswaran is an Emmy®-nominated writer, director, and producer of immersive works. Born in India and based in Berlin, she co-founded NowHere Media, focusing on contemporary issues through storytelling and technology. Her works have been featured at Venice, Tribeca, SXSW, IDFA, Cannes, and the UN. She has won multiple awards, including Tribeca Storyscapes and SXSW Best Immersive. Gayatri lectures at several universities, including FU Berlin and Filmakademie BW.
Tobi Pfeil, an artist works on everything from immersive VR-experiences at the Venice Biennale, to creating award-winning sound installations in abandoned factory halls. Tobi is part of the duo Only Slime, which combines their background in punk, classical music, computer games, free jazz, acrobatics, hyperpop, experimental theatre, electronic music, film, XR production, and programming. The duo seeks a playful limitlessness through vastly different mediums and artistic modes of expression.
René Pinnell is the founder of Artizen, a community fund supporting creativity. He has played a key role in the VR artistic renaissance, helping creators raise over $50MM for projects, including the first seven-figure deal for a VR film at Sundance. As an executive producer, René worked on groundbreaking VR projects like BATTLESCAR, starring Rosario Dawson, and SPHERES, featuring Jessica Chastain, Millie Bobby Brown, and Patti Smith. He has also directed The King of Texas, sold a TV pilot to MTV, and founded two companies while designing five products.
Michaela Pňaček(ova), PhD, is an award-winning XR creator and researcher exploring human-AI co-creation. Her VR piece Symphony of Noise VR (2019) was exhibited at IDFA Doc Lab, ISEA Montreal, LEV Madrid, IFF Geneva, and more. It received the FIVARS Award for Excellence in Sound Design, was selected for the IDFA and MIT R&D Program, and was listed among the Best XR Installations of 2019 by Forbes. She has won the Mozilla Trustworthy AI Award (2022), CIBC Artist Award (2021), and Marseille Web Fest Award (2019). Currently, she researches bioethics and voice AI at the National Institute of Health and Simon Fraser University.
Alongside her work, Katja lectures at universities and cultural institutions on topics such as creative coding, augmented reality, embodied interaction and data visualisation.
Mandy Rose is Professor of Documentary & Digital Cultures at UWE Bristol. Her research examines evolving documentary aesthetics, ethics, and audiences. Mandy is Co-Investigator on the UKRI My World programme, she was Co-Investigator on the EPSRC Virtual Realities: Immersive Documentary Encounters project. She is Co-Convenor of i-Docs.
Pavel Sitnikov is a filmmaker and digital creative based in Cologne, Germany with a background in sound design. In 2022, moved to Germany to pursue a Master’s degree in Digital Narratives at the ifs internationale filmschule köln, where he produced his debut VR documentary project "Calls From Home". Pavel Sitnikov is also part of the program team of FILM FESTIVAL COLOGNE.
Barna is an XR storyteller & filmmaker splitting his time between Budapest & San Francisco, interested in what XR can do for documentary and humanity. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he also lectures on XR storytelling. Barna’s work has been acquired by The Guardian and PBS, screened at DOC NYC, DOK Leipzig; as well as IDFA & NewImages markets, and CPH:LAB.
Sara Tirelli is an artist and filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in the moving image industry. Her work blends art and cinema, featured in exhibitions such as Quadriennale d’Arte in Rome, Sonje Art Centre in Seoul, and Deutsche Bank KunstHalle. Since 2016, she has focused on immersive media, combining artistic and academic research with education. She is currently the Head of Studies at CSC Immersive Arts, a department of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia dedicated to XR.
Since the early 2000s, Mathieu Gayet has worked in the film industry with a focus on new media and the Internet. In 2017, he founded XRMust.com, a platform dedicated to immersive storytelling, publishing over 350 articles and interviews. In 2019, he programmed Immersity, a major French XR event. In 2023, he became Head of Industry at the Geneva Digital Market, supporting the European XR ecosystem.
