Xinemarte immersive cinematic art platform debuts at MIFFest
Immersive cinematic art platform Xinemarte has made its Malaysia premiere at the 9th Malaysia International Film Festival with "The Room Remembers," featuring the 25-minute work "Fluid." Developed by Los Angeles firm SQNXR, the rollout marks the second Asian stop after Taipei and positions cinema spaces for new experiential audiences.
Key Takeaways
- Xinemarte, from Los Angeles creative technology company SQNXR, premiered in Malaysia as a special program at the recently concluded 9th MIFFest in Kuala Lumpur.
- The Malaysia program centers on inaugural chapter "The Room Remembers" and first presentation "Fluid," a 25-minute audiovisual work by SQNXR Creative Director Ray Tijssen (0010×0010).
- Jazzy Group of Companies, MIFFest organizer, holds the exclusive Asia sales mandate for Xinemarte; expansion is planned for Singapore, Hong Kong, and more regional markets.
- Programming runs in 25-minute cycles with free entry and exit, updated monthly across family-friendly and adult-oriented categories.
What happened at MIFFest with Xinemarte?
According to Variety, the Kuala Lumpur rollout began a day ahead of MIFFest's opening. It is the second stop in Xinemarte's Asian expansion after a soft launch in Taipei.
The platform treats the movie theater itself as the primary artistic medium, using cinematic-scale projection and Dolby Atmos surround sound to build a shared sensory environment. Festival-goers attended a post-screening Q&A with Tijssen; many described the experience as calming and meditative.
What is "The Room Remembers" and "Fluid"?
"Fluid" sits within Xinemarte's first thematic chapter, "The Room Remembers." Tijssen said: "You have canvas, you have screens, you have sculpture and you have movie theatre rooms. The room becomes the audience. The room remembers."
He described "Fluid" as "organic forms adrift in a single current, where solid and liquid move as one, somewhere between deep ocean and deep space." The Dutch-born, Los Angeles-based artist has previously mounted installations at MOCA Bangkok, W1 London, and TODA Dubai.
Why does this immersive cinematic art platform matter for theaters?
Joanne Goh, CEO of Jazzy Group of Companies and founder of MIFFest, argued that cinema infrastructure is underutilized for much of the day. Xinemarte, she said, lets operators activate those spaces with premium experiential content for audiences who might never attend a traditional film screening.
Rather than adapting conventional titles for big screens, Xinemarte was built to exploit contemporary theatrical infrastructure. Staggered 25-minute cycles allow audiences to enter and exit freely, with monthly programming updates. Follow more Streaming & TV Alerts as experiential formats reshape how venues fill seats beyond the usual feature slate.
Where is Xinemarte expanding next?
After the Malaysia run, the platform is set to expand to Singapore, Hong Kong, and additional markets across the region. With Jazzy Group holding exclusive Asia sales rights, the MIFFest debut signals a commercial push to turn idle screen time into ticketed immersive art—not just another festival sidebar.