Kaleidoscopic Vision

Portland cinephiles may be spoiled with beer taps in theaters and rare screenings of Vertigo in 70 mm, but the best movie experience includes motion-sensing earbuds and what look like Samsung ski goggles. This is the future of film, if San Francisco's Rene Pinnell and his fellow virtual-reality evangelists succeed.

"It's the best of music videos—the sound, the visuals, the experience, the full package—times 10," Pinnell says of VR films, like the ones his fledgling Kaleidoscope management company oversees. "What's better than being right there with the characters?"

Kaleidoscope's premiere VR Film Festival launches its 10-city tour in Portland on Saturday, Aug. 22. The one-day event lets 300 ticket holders move between 20 stations, donning a pair of Samsung viewers to experience each film. "We can take you to places you've never been," Pinnell says.

Some films are lighthearted like the technicolor Butts, while others transport viewers to unreachable venues more seriously: DMZ: Memories of a No Man's Land explores the Korean Demilitarized Zone from the viewpoint of a former soldier, and The Nepal Quake Project immerses viewers in the wreckage while Susan Sarandon narrates from their earbuds. Some films wax artistic—The Night Cafe makes van Gogh's most famous works interactive. Others are existential—Tana Pura channels The Tibetan Book of the Dead and The Psychedelic Experience for an audiovisual exploration of the moment right after death.

"We've crossed that magical line," Pinnell says, explaining that the explosion in recent years of smartphone usage and high-quality VR from companies like industry leader Oculus Rift are making VR accessible for mainstream movie fans. "On one side you have pixelated, disorienting experiences that make you nauseous, if they're not up to the technical specifications," Pinnell says. "The other side is a magical, immersive experience. And now we're on the right side."

Like traveling evangelists peddling a new reality, Pinnell is loading up a U-Haul for the 50,000-mile journey across 10 cities to spread the word. "It's a tectonic shift in the way we're consuming stories," he says. "The people I know, once they've experienced VR…they become true believers."

GO: The Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival is at Flex Space, 1307 NW Overton St., kvrff.com, on Saturday, Aug. 22. 3:30-8 pm. $20. 

WWeek 2015