The Chinese project The Pigeon Ring, directed by Yuqi Zhang and Shixin Tao, received the Venice Immersive Grand Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The award was announced at the closing ceremony on September 12, 2026.
Inside a family’s memories
The 35-minute work combines virtual reality with an installation. Its protagonist, Lyn, accompanies her elderly grandfather to an abandoned family home, where he wants to find a lost pigeon leg band. Moving through the rooms gradually reveals the family’s history and things left unsaid.
The project draws on the director’s childhood memories and her attempts as an adult to understand her grandfather. The creators reconstructed the actual family home using Gaussian Splatting, a technique for representing a three-dimensional scene. Visitors explore at their own pace, with movement through the space becoming part of the story.
The dialogue is in Sichuanese Chinese. Production involved Hangzhou Ostar Media, 4DV Productions and other production and educational teams.
The programme is held on Lazzaretto Vecchio island in the Venetian Lagoon. Venice Immersive encompasses virtual and mixed reality, spatial installations and other immersive formats. The Pigeon Ring received the highest award in this programme, judged by a separate international jury.
