Lightroom Report 2026

Reality Check 2026 brought together artists, producers, technologists, curators, researchers, funders, policymakers and cultural institutions to ask a pressing question: how can immersive storytelling move beyond experimentation and into sustainable, long-term frameworks?

Held at Katoenhuis as part of the launch of Lightroom – IFFR’s new platform for immersive and non-linear storytelling – the symposium made clear that while artistic experimentation in the field has grown significantly, the systems designed to support it have not kept pace. Three structural tensions emerged: definitions shape access; funding shapes aesthetics; and distribution shapes survival. Participants also challenged some of the field’s founding assumptions, from the primacy of technology in defining immersive work to the over-reliance on short-term innovation grants.

Download the full Reality Check 2026 report to explore the findings and recommendations in depth.