CIRCLE, the training initiative dedicated to women and gender-expansive filmmakers, announced May 18 at Cannes Docs the launch of CIRCLE Expanded Orbit: a new international programme focused on immersive storytelling and XR-based practices. The programme is co-organised with Onassis ONX, the Onassis Foundation’s global platform for art and advanced technologies. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentarian Katerina Cizek appointed as Head of Studies.
CIRCLE Expanded Orbit takes place 21–26 November 2026 in Athens, Greece. Applications are now open to filmmakers, artists, XR creators and multidisciplinary storytellers working individually or in teams of up to two. The application deadline is 23 July 2026.
“Building on eight years of supporting bold and necessary stories, CIRCLE Expanded Orbit extends the initiative’s mission into emergent media, supporting creators working across XR, MR, VR, AR, AI and game-based storytelling,” organisers underline. “The programme brings together a selected group of creators with leading voices across storytelling, technology, art and design, through a focused programme of mentorship, exchange and project development at the intersection of cinema, contemporary art and emerging media.”
Comments Biljana Tutorov, Founder and Programme Director of CIRCLE: “CIRCLE Expanded Orbit is an organic evolution of the training platform we have built together with more than 200 participants and experts over the past eight years. From the very beginning, CIRCLE has been about creating the conditions for bold authors to collaborate and strengthen their voice through exchange and solidarity, as well as the urgent stories to find their form and their audience.”
“As storytelling is being transformed by immersive and other emergent media, we want to ensure that women and gender-expansive creators are not just participating in that transformation, but leading it,” she added. “With CIRCLE Expanded Orbit, and with Kat Cizek guiding our pedagogical and creative vision, we are opening a new creative space – one where we can explore new media and technology in service of authors and where the future of our art can be imagined collectively. It’s so exciting to have Onassis ONX and Onassis Foundation as partners in this venture”
Katerina Cizek joins CIRCLE Expanded Orbit as Head of Studies. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentarian, she is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab. As Head of Studies, she will guide the programme’s pedagogical and creative framework alongside other visionary mentors.
“I am honoured to join CIRCLE, and to expand the orbit of remarkable creators into the myriad of creative and critical possibilities of emergent tech and media,” she comments. “We are so honoured to collaborate with Onassis ONX at this inaugural event, to bridge many worlds. The learnings in our circle will flow in all directions, as women and gender-expansive creators too bring urgent and important perspectives to this field.”
Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital & Innovation, Onassis Foundation – Onassis ONX adds: “CIRCLE Expanded Orbit reflects Onassis ONX’s commitment to building a global ecosystem for immersive storytelling, one that begins with talent development and extends through meaningful collaboration and international distribution. This partnership strengthens our focus on identifying and supporting artists working at the intersection of art and technologies, while ensuring their work evolves within a strong curatorial and institutional framework.
“At Onassis ONX, we are interested not in technology as an end in itself, but as a means to expand artistic expression, critical thinking, and new forms of immersion. Through initiatives like Expanded Orbit, we connect local practices with global networks, opening pathways for artists to develop, circulate, and resonate internationally. In this context, supporting women and gender-expansive creators is essential to shaping a more inclusive and forward-looking field.”
