Immersive and visionary, Chroma Art Film Festival returns for its second edition  

The second edition of Chroma Art Festival, described as a singular event that blends tactile and immersive installation art with digital elements, is at Superblue for two days, Saturday, Aug. 17 and Sunday, Aug. 18. (Photo courtesy of Chroma Art Film Festival)

The Chroma Art Film Festival (CAFF) returns for its second edition, proposing a fusion of immersive art and storytelling. Spearheaded by Miami’s Rainbow Oasiiis, the festival, on Saturday, Aug. 17 and Sunday, Aug. 18 at Superblue’s Allapattah location, promises an expanded and reimagined experience compared to its inaugural edition last year.

A screening at last year’s inaugural festival. (Photo courtesy of Chroma Art Film Festival)

Reflecting on the inaugural festival, Shantelle Rodriguez, director of Superblue Miami, described its impact, noting that it received submissions from more than 400 filmmakers worldwide. “The first edition of the Chroma Art Film Festival exceeded our expectations, both in terms of participation and audience engagement,” says Rodriguez.

Known for its large-scale immersive installations, Superblue Miami is the ideal host for the Chroma Art Film Festival with the venue’s mission to support and present artists who push the boundaries aligning with the festival’s goals, according to Rodriguez.  “Superblue was founded to nurture future artists and emerging talent, which makes a program like Chroma integral to our core values.”

The upcoming edition will feature a redesigned layout, with 19 visual artists transforming the space to create a new environment exploration. Aileen Quintana (who goes by the artist name of Haiiileen) is the founder and director of Rainbow Oasiiis, the nonprofit foundation behind the festival. She describes Chroma as a singular event that blends tactile and immersive installation art with digital elements.

Fabiola Larios, an interdisciplinary artist from Mexico now based in Miami, is featured in this year’s Chroma Art Festival. (Photo courtesy of Chroma Art Film Festival)

“The second edition,” she continues, “will feature high-level production skill sets from our directors and producers. Notably, Nick Rodriguez from Gravitate Production and James Tejada from Unreal Systems will bring their expertise from major festivals and arenas to create an immersive 360-degree experience.”

She says that the festival itself is a work of art describing it as “a conceptual artwork for the world to experience.”

The event’s format is designed to evolve annually. “Each year, we bring in new visual artists, formats, and layouts, making the festival as unique and fluid as the art it presents,” says Quintana.

The festival founder and director believes that the event is not just evolving but revolutionizing the experience for both festival-goers and artists alike. “Revolutionizing the festival experience means showcasing intellectually and narratively rich new concepts with high production value. Our programming and stylistic approaches are unique and we are thrilled to present them in our home base,” she says.

Filmmaker Bee Nix will present her piece “Suture.Blue,” which offers a deeply personal exploration of identity and connection. (Photo courtesy of Chroma Art Film Festival)

Rainbow Oasiiis’ mission is to create platforms where immersive installation art can thrive, allowing artists to develop their careers and audiences to engage with non-traditional forms of art, according to Quintana. “Chroma is our largest program, and it’s dedicated to intertwining immersive installation art with media and meta works (art that explores its own nature or the concept of art itself). It’s a space where storytelling and art objects coexist in a meta-physical space, providing artists with a dedicated platform to showcase their work,” she says.

The festival’s focus on the convergence of art and technology is exemplified by the work of artists like Fabiola Larios. An interdisciplinary artist from Mexico now based in Miami, Larios’s work explores themes of surveillance, obsolescence, and representation in the digital age.

For Chroma 2.0, Larios has created a piece that blends playfulness with critical commentary. “I like to talk about surveillance in my work, and I make technology cute by bedazzling surveillance cameras and TVs,” says Larios. Her piece is meant to provoke reflection on the duality of being watched, presenting surveillance as both comforting and intrusive. “By broadcasting live footage from the bedazzled camera to Disney Princess TVs, the audience confronts the reality of being watched in a cute way without the permanence of recorded footage,” she explains.

Larios’s work fits well within the broader narrative of the festival, which seeks to explore and challenge the role of technology in contemporary life. “I work with old technology, so I enjoy creating art for the festival because it allows me to explore and present an alternative narrative of what happens to technology as it ages,” adds Larios.

Known for its large-scale immersive installations, Superblue Miami will be hosting for the second year the Chroma Art Film Festival (Photo courtesy of Superblue Miami)

Filmmaker Bee Nix, another participant in Chroma 2.0, will present her piece “Suture.Blue,” which offers a deeply personal exploration of identity and connection. Nix, a new media artist, curator, and researcher based in Pittsburgh, works at the intersection of animation, game art, and experimental video. “I’ve rarely shown myself as myself in my animations, even though I use my form for most of them,” says Nix.

For “Suture.Blue,” she took a different approach, integrating her personal experience into the animation. “This piece felt very personal, so I thought I should present myself in it, even though it’s not something I usually do,” she explains. Through her work, Nix hopes to evoke a sense of connection among viewers, sparking emotional resonance that transcends the screen.

The collaboration between Superblue Miami and Rainbow Oasiiis has been pivotal in shaping the festival’s identity and ensuring its success, says Quintana.

“Superblue’s dedication to immersive installation art aligns perfectly with the festival’s goals,” she says.

For its second edition, the Chroma Art Film Festival wants to even further deepen its exploration of the intersection between art and technology, creating a platform for artists to push creative boundaries. And for those ready to join in the creative exploration, Chroma is already accepting submissions for its 2025 festival.

WHAT:  Chroma Art Film Festival

WHERE:  Superblue Miami, 1101 NW 23rd St., Miami

WHEN:  11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17 and Sunday, Aug. 18

COST:  $50, general admission (one day pass); $20, students (one day pass); $80, VIP (2-day screenings); $250, founder (2-day screenings, includes meet and greet and other extras); children under 2 admitted free.

INFORMATION: superblue.com or chromaartfilmfestival.org

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