Grand & Impact Prize - Nazar by Lara Kobeissi, UK, Lebanon
Nazar is a tender, intimate encounter between performer and participant, blending live presence and VR to explore vulnerability and connection.
Grand Prize - The Grand Prize was awarded to the work that stood out for its artistic excellence, quality of execution, and originality.
Impact Prize - The Impact Prize was awarded to the work that generated the strongest resonance, emotion, or reflection on a subject of societal, cultural, or technological importance.
Grand & Impact Prize - Nazar by Lara Kobeissi, UK, Lebanon
Nazar is a tender, intimate encounter between performer and participant, blending live presence and VR to explore vulnerability and connection.
Grand & Impact Prize - Dark Rooms by Mads Damsbo, Laurits Flensted Jensen & Anne Sofie Steen Sverdrup, Denmark, Taiwan, Germany
Dark Rooms is an immersive documentary exploring LGBTQIA+ identity, sexuality, and social realities through hybrid VR storytelling.
Special Mentions - The jury wished to recognize the work of three additional entries and awarded the following Special Mentions.
Cinematic Creativity Award - Scent by Alan Kwan, United States
Humanity Award - The Awake by Hsiao-Ting Hsieh & Hsiao-Wei Hsieh, Taiwan
Storytelling Achievement Award - The Daladala Verse by Aurelio Mofuga, Tanzania
Grand Prize - The Grand Prize honored the creation that combined immersive storytelling, executive mastery, and visual creativity to deliver an unforgettable dome experience.
Grand Prize - The Rift by Janire Najera & Matt Wright, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe
The Rift is an evocative fulldome dance film set within the landscapes of Zimbabwe. Through movement and spatial choreography, performers embody the tension, resilience and interconnectedness between humanity and the natural world under the pressures of climate change.
Special Mention - The jury wished to recognize an additional artwork that stood out for its exceptional quality, immersive nature and aesthetic brilliance.
Special Mentions - Reality Looks Back by Anne Jeppesen & Omid Zarei, Denmark
Grand Prize - The Grand Prize is given to the project that excels in the richness of its universe, the consistency of its interactive design, and the originality of its narrative approach in virtual worlds.
Grand Prize - SUKU by Durk van der Meer, Curaçao
Created after relocating from Europe to Curaçao during the COVID period, SUKU is an explorable painting infused with new landscapes, colors, and inspirations. The work invites audiences into a vibrant, otherworldly environment where personal transformation and geography merge.
XR Development Award - The Jury Prize celebrated an immersive VR journey, blending urgent climate storytelling, emotional depth, and scalable innovation to deliver a haunting yet hopeful vision of resilience.
XR Development Award - Submerged City by Francisco Almendra, Brazil
Submerged City is a speculative underwater journey set in a future where rising seas have swallowed coastal cities. Aboard a submarine, participants explore submerged ruins and uncover time capsules left by climate refugees: intimate stories of loss, love, and hope from the XXI century.
The juries for the 2026 edition of the NewImages Festival bring together international figures with rich and complementary backgrounds. Visionary artists, award-winning filmmakers, pioneering producers, curators and committed editorial voices all share the same high creative standards. Together, they offer sharp and sensitive perspectives on the works in competition.
Tina Gharavi
BAFTA-nominated director
Photo : © Mary McCartney
Haojie Huang
Curator & Deputy Director of the Kaohsiung Film Archive
Ryat Yezbick
Artist
Jenny Thibault
Executive and Artistic Director of the SAT
Photo : © Marc-Etienne Mongrain
Camille Laurens
Journalist & Creator of Café Cash
Jennifer Cook
Producer
Michael Salmon
Producer & Head of Best of Worlds at Venice Immersive
Walid Kilonzi
XR Producer at Fallohide
Giusy Amoroso
Immersive Artist