Omar Rashid

Filmmaker & VR Director - Award-winning films and VR experiences at the crossroads of cinema and new media.

About

Omar Rashid is a filmmaker and VR director based in Florence. His work moves across cinema, documentary and immersive storytelling, exploring how technology reshapes narrative form and audience perception.

With a background in art direction and visual design, Rashid founded Gold, a creative studio focused on innovative audiovisual production. Over the years he has developed a distinctive approach that merges traditional filmmaking with 360° and virtual reality experiences, treating VR as an extension of the cinematic language rather than a technological novelty.

His films and immersive projects have been presented and awarded at major festivals and institutions, including Venice Days, Nastri d’Argento, Trieste Science+Fiction, Lucca Comics & Games, and MEET Digital Culture Center. Among his most acclaimed works are Segnale d’Allarme – La mia battaglia VR, No Borders VR, Firenze VR, and the upcoming documentary Generazione Fumetto.

Rashid also teaches and curates programs on immersive cinema, collaborating with film schools, universities and festivals to promote new forms of storytelling between film, theatre and virtual reality.

Filmography

Omar Rashid’s film work spans documentary, fiction and hybrid forms, often focusing on identity, social narratives and the intersection between visual culture and contemporary life. His approach combines a cinematic eye with an interest in real stories, moving between intimate portraits and broader collective themes.

Virtual Reality

Omar Rashid approaches virtual reality as a cinematic language — not as a technological extension, but as a new grammar of space, presence and emotion. His VR projects explore the relationship between viewer and performance, merging theatre, documentary and immersive storytelling.

A central aspect of his vision is the social dimension of virtual reality: through his studio Gold, Rashid has developed collective VR screenings — shared viewing experiences that bring immersive works back into public and theatrical spaces. This model, designed as an alternative to solitary headset use, has become a key distribution platform for his projects.

Gold currently manages over 200 headsets, enabling large-scale events, educational programs and screenings across Italy, expanding access to VR beyond the technological niche and into a shared cultural experience.

His works have been shown in festivals, museums and installations across Europe and Asia, establishing a bridge between traditional cinema and immersive media.

Press & Awards

Omar Rashid’s work has been recognised in both film and immersive media contexts, receiving awards and special mentions in Italy and abroad. His projects have been featured in national and international press, and presented in festivals, cultural institutions and conferences dedicated to new storytelling languages.

Awards & Mentions

Press & Publications

Rashid’s projects and reflections on immersive cinema have been covered by Rai Cinema VR Channel, Artribune, Goldworld, and Lo Spazio. He is also the author of Cinema Virtuale – Un nuovo linguaggio, a book analysing the evolution of VR filmmaking and its expressive grammar.

Alongside his work as filmmaker and VR director, Omar Rashid regularly teaches, curates and speaks about immersive storytelling, cinematic language and the evolution of new media. His lectures and workshops are designed to bridge artistic practice and critical reflection, introducing students and professionals to the expressive potential of virtual reality.

Teaching & Academic Collaboration

Rashid collaborates with several art and design academies in Italy, including NABA (Milan) and IED (Florence), where he teaches courses on cinema, theatre and virtual reality. He has also held seminars for Polimoda, the University of Camerino, and other cultural organisations focused on film and creative technologies.

Workshops & Curatorial Work

He has curated and led VR sections and workshops for Corto Dorico, Dominio Pubblico – Stati d’Animo, and the City of Fiesole, promoting hands-on experiences in immersive cinema. As curator, he directed the VR program for Corto Dorico and co-founded Saletta VR, an itinerant project bringing collective VR screenings to theatres across Italy.

Talks & Conferences

Rashid has been invited as speaker at international events including the World Conference on VR Industry (China) and MEET Digital Culture Center (Milan), focusing on how virtual reality redefines the relationship between author, audience and performance.

For collaborations, screenings, speaking engagements or press inquiries, please reach out directly.

Email: info@omarrashid.it
Location: Florence, Italy
Instagram: @omarrashid
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/omarrashidgold

For full filmography, detailed project pages navigate to the italian section of this website.