A Long Goodbye
directed by Kate Voet & Victor Maes
A Long Goodbye is an animated, interactive VR experience following Ida, a 72-year-old pianist with dementia. As her reality fades, players interact with objects and recordings in her empty apartment, causing her world and memories of her beloved husband, Daniel, to be vividly drawn to life. A Long Goodbye is a poetic exploration of love and the emotional toll of dementia on two people who shared a lifetime.
- Year
- 2025
- Format
- Interactive VR Experience
- Role
- Director
- Director
- Kate Voet & Victor Maes
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize
La Biennale di Venezia · 2025
A Long Goodbye is an animated, interactive VR experience co-written and co-directed by Kate Voet and Victor Maes. Inside Ida’s emptying apartment, players handle the objects and recordings of a long marriage, and each interaction draws her world and her memories of her husband Daniel vividly back to life. The experience features the voices of Elizabeth Counsel, Richard Wells, Marlies Heuer and Derek de Lint, with an original score by composer Joep Beving.
The project was produced by Cassette for Timescapes (Belgium) with Valk Productions (Netherlands) and Tarantula (Luxembourg), developed through the Venice Gap Financing Market, and supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, the Netherlands Film Fund and Film Fund Luxembourg, among others.
A Long Goodbye premiered in the Venice Immersive Competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it received the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize. It went on to win the Cristal for the Best Immersive Work at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the Agog Immersive Impact Award at SXSW, Best XR Film at Clermont-Ferrand, the Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki and the International XR Award at the Prix NUMIX, and continues to travel to festivals including IDFA DocLab, Film Fest Gent and Fipadoc.
“We live in a world of forgetting. Places fade, our retention blurs, and even ourselves, that we once knew, can slowly disappear. Yet this animation gently reminds us that love often survives where memory cannot. Beneath loss and fading recollections, something enduring remains: a human connection capable of healing, guiding, and lighting the way home.”
Credits
Directors
Kate Voet
Victor Maes
Cast
Elizabeth Counsel
Richard Wells
Marlies Heuer
Derek de Lint
Composer
Joep Beving
Art Director
Daniel Balage
CG Supervisor
Gael Chaize
Lead Developer
Polygoat
Frederik Smolders
Sound Designers
Game Audio Squad
Niels van der Leest
Lars Tesselaar
Additional 2D Animation
Pieter Vanluffelen
Mathieu Jadin
Tom Lemmens
Producers Belgium
Cassette for Timescapes
An Oost
Emmy Oost
Producers Netherlands
Valk Productions
Richard Valk
Producers Luxembourg
Tarantula
Donato Rotunno
Festivals
Venice Immersive Competition (IT)
Annecy International Animation Film Festival (FR)
SXSW (US) — North American Premiere
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (FR)
Thessaloniki International Film Festival (GR) — Greek Premiere
IDFA Doclab (NL) — Dutch Premiere
NewImages (FR)
Film Fest Gent (BE) — Belgian Premiere
Fipadoc (FR) — French Premiere
Beijing International Festival
Busan International Short Film Festival
Filmfestival Oostende (BE)
Luxembourg City Film Festival (LUX)
Kaboom (NL)
Filmgate Interactive (US)
Cinetech, Maryland Film Festival (US)
Kortfilmfestival Leuven (BE)
Docfest Brugge (BE)
Breedbeeld Kortfilmfestival (BE)
Markets
Venice Gap Financing Market 2023
New Images XR Development Market 2023
Stereopsia Booster program 2022
VR Days Immersive Funding Market 2021
Torino Short Film Market VR Series 2020
With the Support Of
Flanders Audiovisual Fund - VAF (BE)
Creative Europe MEDIA programme (EU)
The Netherlands Film Fund (NL)
Film Fund Luxembourg (LUX)
deAuteurs (BE)
Pictanovo (FR)
Awards
Cristal for the Best Immersive Work2026
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize2025
La Biennale di Venezia
International XR Award2026
Prix NUMIX
Agog Immersive Impact Award2026
SXSW
Best XR Film2026
Clermont-Ferrand
Golden Alexander2025
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Best Applied Game2025
Belgian Game Awards
Best Art Direction2025
United XR Awards
Best of Fest2026
Filmgate Miami
Best Non-Fiction World2026
XR Must Awards
