Belfast XR Festival is set to present its 2026 programme at The Black Box in Belfast on 2 and 3 November, as part of Belfast Film Festival. The programme is led by Escape the Internet, an interactive experience for audiences, with a single-player virtual reality work running alongside it.
Escape the Internet
Created by director Lucas Rizzotto and built with Pete Cybriwsky, Escape the Internet is presented in partnership with IDFA DocLab. Up to one hundred participants share a room and work together, guided by a live compere, through interactive set pieces while evading colourful monsters, in what the festival describes as part massive multiplayer game and part social experiment. Sessions are scheduled for 7pm on Monday 2 November and 2pm and 7pm on Tuesday 3 November. The work has previously been shown at SXSW and Tribeca Film Festival, and the Belfast showings are an exclusive preview ahead of its European premiere in Amsterdam later in November.
The Baby Factory is Closed
Alongside it on 2 November, the festival is showing The Baby Factory is Closed, a twenty-minute single-player virtual reality work written and directed by Deepa Mann-Kler and produced by Eva Robinson of Aura Digital Studios. It has an original score by Northern Irish composer Katie Richardson and runs in the Green Room at The Black Box from 10am to 4pm.
Partners and support
- Belfast Film Festival: presents the festival as part of its programme and is collaborating with Belfast XR Festival on two experiences.
- IDFA DocLab: presenting partner for Escape the Internet.
- Aura Digital Studios: producer of The Baby Factory is Closed.
- Arts Council of Northern Ireland: supports Belfast XR through National Lottery funding.
The festival is also supported by Future Screens NI, Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network, Immersive Arts, Eirmersive, Digital Catapult NI and Nerve Centre. Tickets for Escape the Internet are priced at £15.
