Michel van der Aa wins Cannes Immersive Award for From Dust
From Dust, the virtual reality opera by Michel van der Aa, has won the Immersive Competition at the 78th Festival de Cannes. Premiered in Rotterdam in December, the opera is presented at the Holland Festival between 13 and 29 June.
The Jury of the Immersive Competition of the 78th Festival de Cannes presented on 22 May 2025 the Best Immersive Work Award to From Dust, created by Michel van der Aa, recognizing a creation that pushed the boundaries of storytelling, art space, and audience engagement. This year’s official selection featured 16 works from 9 countries: 9 in competition, 2 non-competitive, and 5 in a special Focus on Luxembourg.
The Jury, chaired by French director Luc Jacquet included American musician, director and writer Laurie Anderson, French author and performer Tania de Montaigne, British director, screenwriter, and artist Martha Fiennes and Japanese video game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Together, they explored a selection that invited viewers into immersive worlds where technology and feelings intersect.
From Dust transcends traditional opera and transports visitors to a new dimension of immersive storytelling and personalized art. In this 24-minute experience, the boundaries between reality and identity, between audience and work of art, are blurred. Visitors enter a 360-degree installation space that responds to movements and touches, and takes shape in real time with the help of AI control – an interaction in which worlds are created, a protagonist and five alter egos which are gradually detached from her are explored, and new stories emerge along the way.
In From Dust, opera is reformed into a deeply personal journey, according to Van der Aa. This work invites the exploration of identity through an opera experience that adapts to each visitor, challenging traditional boundaries while honouring the emotional essence of opera.
“It’s a great honour for me to be nominated for this prestigious Festival and an even greater honour to win. It’s truly out of this world !”
Michel van der Aa, Composer and Director
“We are witnessing the emergence of a new narrative form — still imprecisely called ‘immersive art,’ a term too broad to capture the richness and diversity of the languages now unfolding through technology. As a jury, we were asked to engage with these bold, forward-looking voices and select one among them — never an easy task. We approached the works with the breadth of our varied perspectives and the shared sense of being part of a field that is still taking shape, but full of promise.”
Luc Jacquet, Immersive Competition Jury President
“The Immersive Competition is about creating space for new ways of storytelling — where the relationship between audience, narrative, and space can be reimagined. These works explore how immersion can shape perception and open up different kinds of artistic engagement. We see this as a step forward in recognising immersive creation as a distinct and evolving art form.”
Elie Levasseur, Head of Immersive
From Dust was commissioned by De Doelen Rotterdam and was made in collaboration with vocal ensemble Sjaella. In the Netherlands, From Dust can be experienced during the Holland Festival between 13 and 29 June.
> View the trailer of Michel van der Aa's From Dust
> From Dust at the Holland Festival
> Further information on From Dust
About Michel van der Aa
Composer and director Michel van der Aa (b.1970) allows his audience to step into alternative worlds with innovative music, film and digital creations. As a multimedia artist, he brings together various disciplines and leads the classical opera genre to new dimensions.
His work has now been performed in more than 45 countries and he has received prestigious awards including the Grawemeyer Award (2013), the Johannes Vermeer Award (2015) and the International Opera Award (2022).
> Michel van der Aa on Boosey & Hawkes website
> Michel van der Aa's website
Contact for media
Charlene Austin: [email protected]