Physical Spaces for Virtual Realities. Forging Legitimacy of Immersive Social Documentaries

The use of immersive-technology media for documentary-style experiences is not new. Its ability to foster interaction enables users to form emotional bonds with the setting and characters, as well as engage in perspective-taking processes (Bailenson et al. 2018). Widespread enthusiasm highlights the medium’s educational and didactic potential, as well as recognizing that it can be especially valuable as a tool for preserving cultural heritage and oral testimonies through the creation of user-centered experiences. The purpose of this study is to look into one of the most accessible and effective manifestations of this phenomenon, the immersive social documentary – a type of immersive experience that belongs to the larger cinematic virtual reality (Cine-VR or CVR) tradition. This article will first provide a quick overview of these works' peculiarities before focusing on a little-researched subject, namely, the distribution of VR social documentaries. It will be addressed from two interrelated perspectives. First, I will assess the lifecycle of these works, and the role of festivals in their promotion. The lifespan of VR pieces usually ends in a few venues that are culturally significant but not financially profitable. I will use the theoretical framework of film festival studies to analyze how the exhibition of these works in culturally legitimizing contexts has a profound impact on the development of their definition and identity. Second, using two distinct case studies, I will examine the success of their different distribution as well as their impact on the market.