ALLLESSS

      Virtual Reality Artist & Practitioner

      📌 Amsterdam

      Ali Eslami is a Virtual Reality Artist and Practitioner from Iran who has been active and experimenting with VR since 2014. Ali’s work carves new pathways into this emerging medium by developing interactive experiences, driving his practice-led research. The experiences manifest as realities that blur fictional and non-fictional narratives, which strive to articulate possible futures. Ali compliments his process with speculative design and world-building, and is ever questioning the restraints of physical space, time and bodies.
      Besides content production, Ali is active in running VR lectures and workshops.
      In 2016, his VR project won the IDFA DocLab Award for “Best Immersive non-fiction”. he won the Gouden Kalf (Dutch Film Festival) for his project “Nerd_Funk” in 2020.

      Degrees
      2010-2014    Bachelor of Civil Engineering – Zanjan National University (Zanjan, Iran)

      Artist in Residence
      2020          Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Guest resident (Amsterdam. NL)
      2018-19    3Package Deal, Amsterdam fonds voor de kunst (Amsterdam. NL)
      2016          Age of Wonderland, Baltan Laboratories (Eindhoven, NL)

      Work Experience
      2012-Present    Freelance VR Artist & Practitioner
      2009-2012         Senior 3D Artist – Savice Interior Architecture Co.

       

      Selected Exhibitions
      Nerd_Funk (Supported by Nederlands Film Fonds)
      2020    Impossible-bodies Festival (Den Bosch, NL) | Nederlands Film Festival [Golden Calf Nominee] (Utrecht, NL)
                   Geneva International Film Festival (Geneva, SW)
                   CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, DK)  |  Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
                   Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Open Doclab R&D Program
      2019    VR Installation, IDFA Doclab (Commissioned by NL Film Fonds) (Amsterdam, NL)

      Big Air with Go (Nike Commission)
      2019    VR Installation, Melt Festival (Leipzig, GE)

      Sacred Hill (Supported by Stimulering Fonds, Amsterdam Fonds Voor de Kunst, Mondrian Fonds)
      2020    Meta Marathon (Dusseldorf, GE)
      2019    Neuhaus Artistic Research, The New Institute (Rotterdam, NL)  |  Nederlands Film Festival, Interactive Expo (Utrecht, NL)
                   Museumnacht Amsterdam (Amsterdam, NL)

      False Mirror VR
      2019    The Overkill Festival (Enschede, NL)  | Getxophoto Festival (Bilbao, SP)
                   A Maze Festival (Berlin, GE)  | Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
                   Diversion Cinema Showcase in Galerie Cinema (Paris, FR)
      2018    IDFA Doclab Spotlight (Amsterdam, NL)

      DeathTolls Experience
      2019    Nexus Gallery (Melbourne, Aus) |  Ambulante Film Festival (Mexico)
      2018    Published online at Oculus Store | War on Screen Festival (Paris, France)
      2017    Published online at Steam and Viveport  | Global Health Film Festival (London, UK)
                   Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal, CA)  |  Bergen Film Festival (Bergen, Norway)
                   Sheffdoc Fest South American Tour | Paris Virtual Film Festival (Paris. FR)
                   Sheffield DocFest (Sheffield, UK)  | Kaleidoscope VR Showcase Vol 2
                   SXSW Virtual Cinema (Austin, USA)
      2016    IDFA Festival (Amsterdam, NL)  | Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)

      Snow VR
      2018    WoW Masquerade 24H West (Amsterdam, NL)
      2017    IndieCade Showcase at E3 Expo (Los Angeles, USA)
      2016    Todaysart Festival (The Hague, NL)  | Mutek VR Salon (Montreal, CA)

       

      Activities
      2020    Program Advisor and Co-curator at STRP Festival
                   Program Advisor at IDFA Festival
      2019    Jury member of goEast Film Festival VR Competition
                   Program Advisor at IDFA Festival
      2018    Jury member of IDFA Doclab’s Competition for Immersive non-fiction
                   Founder member of Plurality University (U+)
                   CPH:Lab participant
                   IDFA’s Cross-Media Forum Participant
      2013    Temp-Illusion Live AudioVisual Performance at TADAEX Festival (Tehran, Iran)

       

      Selected Talks / Conferences / Workshops
      2020    We Are Public Livestream, False Mirror VR Lecture (online)
                   Meta Marathon, False Mirror VR Lecture (Dusseldorf, GE)
                   Johns Hopkins University, False Mirror VR Lecture (New York, US)
                   MoMA Museum of Modern Art, False Mirror video showcase (New York, US)
                   The University of Denver, False Mirror VR Lecture (Denver, US)
      2019    Eindhoven Film Festival,  False Mirror VR Lecture (Eindhoven, NL)
                   Unpackaging 3Package Deal, False Mirror VR Lecture (Amsterdam, NL)
                   GetxoPhoto Festival, False Mirror VR Lecture (Bilbao, ES)
                   Mutek Montreal, False Mirror VR Lecture (Montreal, CA)
                   Virtual Embodiment VR Lecture, Sensorium Festival (Bratislava, SL)
                   Live lecture from VR, A Maze Festival (Berlin, GE)
                   Salwa Foundation, VR Workshop (Amsterdam, NL)
                   The Hmm. Presentation (Amsterdam, NL)
                   ‘Behind the Net’ Workshop, Artez University (Arnhem, NL)
                   Panel speaker, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah Film Platform (Sharjah, UAE)
      2018    Speculative Design VR Workshop, University of Applied Sciences, Master of Digital Design (Amsterdam, NL)
                   False Mirror VR Presentation, IDFA Doclab (Amsterdam, NL)
      2017    VR workshop, Tumo center for creative technologies, (Yerevan, Armenia)
                   Why Virtual Reality?! Roundtable, Forum Des Images (Paris, FR)
                   VR Symposium, Royal College of Arts (London, UK)
                   Join The Resistance Panel, Sheffield DocFest (Sheffield, UK)
                   VR Production Workflow Workshop, Tehran ACM Siggraph (Tehran, Iran)
      2016    VR Masterclass (3 Days), Artez University (Arnhem, NL)
                   Interactive Conference Talk, IDFA Doclab (Amsterdam, NL)
                   Advanced VR Development and Design, Workshop at Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)
                   VR as new Medium, Workshop at Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven, NL)
                   Introduction to VR, STRP Scene (Eindhoven, NL)
                   VPRO Medialab’s Meet the Makers, (The Hague, NL)
      2014    Expanded Reality Presentation, Re-Shape Tehran (Tehran, Iran)

      Nominations
      Nederlands Film Festival Golden Calf and Director’s Forum Award 2020
      IDFA Festival competition for Immersive-nonfiction 2016 & 2019
      One World Media Award Longlist 2018
      Lumen Prize Shortlist 2017
      SXSW Virtual Cinema 2017
      Sheffield DocFest 2017
      Kantar’s Information is Beautiful Awards 2015