Immersive — Parallell Cinema

OTHERWORLDS: Malanka — early ritual performance projection sketch

A transmedia work unfolding as both an interactive live XR performance and a single-user VR experience, OTHERWORLDS: Malanka reimagines the Ukrainian winter carnival as a communal ritual of inversion, disguise and collective transformation.

Experience

Live interactive XR performance in a shared physical space

Single-user VR experience structured as an interactive cinematic documentary fairytale

Immersive sound, embodied participation and sensorial XR systems

Coproduction

Parallell Cinéma · Studio Biarritz · Real Pictures LLC

A France-Netherlands-Ukraine coproduction in development and financing.

Studio Biarritz

Real Pictures LLC

Support

With the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation

Lot 4 — Dnipro: Resilience and Cultural Gravity

Ritual

Malanka is a Ukrainian winter carnival rooted in masquerade, exaggerated costumes, processions, satire and role reversal.

The project treats ritual as a living system that can be reactivated through bodies, technology and shared presence.

Artist

Sophia Bulgakova is a Ukrainian interdisciplinary artist based in the Netherlands. Her practice explores embodiment, cultural memory and collective experience through XR, immersive installation, sound and performance.

Her work has been presented at IFFR, SXSW London, Ars Electronica, CTM Festival, Rewire, Sonic Acts and Art VR Prague.

Her installation SPOMYNY is selected for Venice Immersive 2026 (Best of Experiences).

Lineage

The project grows from Sophia Bulgakova's OTHERWORLDS, a multiplayer XR work structured around Ukrainian spring and summer seasonal transitions.

OTHERWORLDS premiered at IFFR 2025, was a Lumen Prize 2025 finalist, and received a Special Jury Mention at Art VR Festival.

Status

In development UCF secured

Working title · 2026 pitch

The Place Beyond is an immersive experience where technology, artificial intelligence, narrative and staging are developed together as one production language.

Format

Immersive experience

Production and financing in progress

Coproduction

Co-produced with The Difference Machine

Recognition

2025 CPH:DOX × Onassis ONX Award

Supported by CPH:LAB

Selections

Immersive Tech Week

NewImages Festival market

Partners & labs