SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! At the XR Experience Competition, Cycle, a philosophical Virtual Reality (VR) poem inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, brings a fresh approach to this interactive and immersive experience. Lingering long after it ends, it holds its ground with its allure, creativity, and interactivity, using dance, music, and animation.
Focusing on three phrases: “endlessly,” “we repeat,” and “alone,” you can create your own Cycle poem by moving the phrases in any order, which determines how the scenes play out. It feels like being transported into an outer world as you create your own VR experience, with information and graphics at your feet, in the air, behind you, and in your hands. It demands attention, and sometimes you can see yourself stepping into an otherworldly realm, thoughtfully and in a healthy, mindful way.
Created by co-directors Dutch 3D artist Matunda Groenendijk and Amsterdam-based performing arts artist Amit Palgi, who combined their vision for Cycle with their knowledge of technology, dance, poetry, and performance, they created a type of meditative, interactive experience that breaks the surface and dives into consciousness in a deeply affecting manner, exploring both hope and fear.
By revealing patterns and cycles in daily life and in life through the merging of performative and visual arts, the duo discovered their own sense of a universal looping of time, bodies, and lives. However, with dance at the core of Cycle, those who experience this VR poem can connect to their own life cycles and perhaps their “cosmic rhythms.”
Visitors test Cycle’s VR poem at IFFR’s Katoenhuis venue in Rotterdam.
“Focusing on three phrases: ‘endlessly,’ ‘we repeat,’ and ‘alone,’ you can create your own Cycle poem by moving the phrases in any order, which determines how the scenes play out.”
Palgi says, “Through virtual production, we created an endless space that magnifies daily cycles, death, and birth.” He adds, “There is also a great deal of movement in this project, and experiencing the world through the body is my approach to storytelling, moving people on both physical and metaphorical levels.”
The combination of movement and what needs to be seen in Cycle is seamless, even though every moment was planned, designed, directed, and replayed repeatedly, creating a rich experience. Even before it starts, you are invited to sit down and take off your shoes to set the mood.
Undeniably drawing on its creators’ talents, the Cycle experience is grounded in one’s own body and designed around bodily movement, merging the performing arts of dance and music with emerging and evolving visual arts—offering human physicality in a digital space. Repeated patterns evoke the duality of Cycle’s loops of eating, sleeping, etc., and instill feelings of wonder and fear, much like our lives do—unbearable and beautiful at the same time, challenging our perspectives.
For its 15 minutes, Cycle feels like a journey to another galaxy, where time is not a factor. Its simple black-and-white design and architectural graphics make it easy to engage and think simultaneously. It also has hints of sparkle and glitter, which add to the sense of the unknown and the trust in something special.
Perhaps the most impressive takeaway from such a personal VR interaction is that it’s not a historic story or a social movement you witness or join. Cycle is meditative and head-clearing. It could be an excellent tool for businesses, companies, and conferences to provide a platform for clarity and to foster thinking and understanding of new ideas and situations, because it clears away the messy messaging, influencers, and commercial cobwebs and graffiti junk that continue to fill our heads day after day.
Cycle screened at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.
"…those who experience this VR poem can connect to their own life cycles and perhaps their 'cosmic rhythms.'"
