UploadVR drops an exclusive trailer for Finding Frida, the 41-minute Norwegian VR documentary in Venice Immersive competition through September 12. No home release yet.
UploadVR published an exclusive trailer today for Finding Frida, a 41-minute VR documentary now screening in competition at Venice Immersive. Directed by Hilde K. Kjøs and produced by Bjørn-Morten Nerland for RippleX Studios with Scopic BV, the piece follows Norwegian Art Nouveau textile artist Frida Hansen (1855–1931) through environments built around her life and woven work—not a talking-head timeline.
A miniature villa, then the full house
La Biennale’s listing matches UploadVR’s frame: a miniature Art Nouveau villa appears in a “real unreality” VR space, then expands to full scale. Hansen’s great-great-granddaughter Cecilie Levy wrote the script and guides the experience. Archival photographs, a gramophone, and Hansen’s tapestries act as portals. A lush garden withers as the story moves through bankruptcy and personal loss, then opens toward artistic reawakening—foreshadowed by four figures linked to Hansen’s 1905 tapestry Semper Vadentes.
Production mixes photorealistic 3D scans, animated artwork, and dreamlike projections with an original score by Sigrid Anita Haugen and sound by Oliver Kadel. Voice-over draws on interviews with Hansen and contemporary historical sources. Main cast on the Biennale page: Tone Danielsen and Cecilie Levy. Runtime: 41 minutes. Language: English. Country: Norway.
First Norwegian VR in Venice Immersive competition
The Norwegian Film Institute called the selection a first: Norway’s first VR project chosen for Venice Immersive’s official competition programme. NFI support for development and production totals NOK 3.15 million. Kjøs is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer; Finding Frida is her first VR project after exploring the medium since 2019. Nerland founded RippleX Studios and has more than 15 years in immersive production.
Hansen herself was a pioneer of Norwegian textile art and a leading Art Nouveau figure—monumental tapestries rooted in nature, symbolism, and Nordic mythology. International acclaim in her lifetime did not stop textile work from being sidelined as craft rather than fine art. NFI notes she is now recognized as one of Norway’s most important artists. The VR piece is an argument that spatial media can put that rehabilitation in front of a festival audience that may never visit Stavanger’s collection.
Festival first. Headset later—maybe.
Seeing it is still a venue problem. UploadVR reports a Venice XR installation premiere; press notes also list PCVR and standalone formats, but there is no announced home release. A project representative told UploadVR that Venice is the start of an international launch, with a festival and exhibition run planned in Norway and elsewhere, plus active talks on distribution partnerships.
Venice Immersive runs on Lazzaretto Vecchio through September 12, 2026, as part of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Finding Frida joins a crowded XR slate that already includes pieces covered here such as Galápagos: The Last Eden, Empire At Sea, and Nevatars. Trailer first. Consumer store page still missing.
Sources: UploadVR, La Biennale / Venice Immersive, Norwegian Film Institute.