MYSTIS

Mystis is a 25-minute cinematic Virtual Reality experience in development, blending art, myth, fantasy, and themes of grief and loss. Crafted from paper worlds, Mystis unfolds as a symbolic journey through a mystical underworld.

Mystis draws from the Eleusinian Mysteries and the myth of descent and return. It is meant to feel like a deeply meditative experience, a complete feast for the senses, and despite the darkness of the theme, to leave the viewer with a deep sense of awe and hope. Mystis invites viewers into a richly symbolic Underworld - which holds so much resonance and power in our psyches and mythologies -and explores how grief weaves through our lives as one of the most powerful, painful and universal human experiences.

Mystis has had a significant journey of recognition which includes:

  • Selected for BFI’s Develop Create XR program, a genre-driven immersive script development lab supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund.

  • Selection to both workshops of the Venice Biennale College Cinema - Immersive.

  • A short VR prototype of Mystis placed second in the Immersive Film and Storytelling track of the global hackathon XRCC, selected from 164 shortlisted projects of over 3,400 participants.

  • Mystis was selected as one of five projects for Agora XR Lab 2026, an international XR development lab taking place during Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.

  • Mystis was selected at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival for the Pitch MIFA in 2026 and won the Studios Alhambra Prize.

  • Mystis is selected to be a part of the Venice Gap Financing Market in 2026, at the Venice International Film Festival.

  • Mystis was the recipient of the Villa Formose residency, a bilateral France-Taiwan XR residency (Bureau Français de Taipei, Centre Culturel de Taiwan à Paris, the CNC, the Kaohsiung Film Archive and CENTQUATRE-PARIS) supporting the development and prototyping of immersive works.

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The Descent