David Bowie is featured in a new 3D "extended reality" documentary, David Bowie: Unseen Unheard, premiering at Venice Immersive, the Venice Film Festival's showcase for immersive storytelling, which is marking its 10th anniversary. Created by Denis O'Regan, Bowie's former official photographer, with the full backing of the singer's estate, the piece is part of a wider programme demonstrating how experimental technology is increasingly being used for ambitious, large-scale storytelling rather than just novelty experiments.

The documentary is one of 69 XR works showing on Venice's Lazzaretto Vecchio island, presented across eight screens and 84 hidden speakers, combining 12 Bowie songs with nearly 800 previously unseen photographs and O'Regan's commentary. Other highlights at this year's event, which runs until 12 September, include climate-focused works such as Solwata and Out of the Ashes, nature documentaries Galápagos: The Last Eden and Disney's Wolf, and the cosmic VR piece Smithsonian Starstruck. Co-curator Liz Rosenthal said the festival has moved from early experimentation towards bigger productions with proper distribution strategies reaching audiences worldwide.