Talking cats, magic brooms and robot bar staff – welcome to the future of storytelling

I'm at the Venice film festival, in a hyper-real city square, surrounded by lapping blue water and tourists who move in mysterious ways. There is a ginger cat here called Dorian who walks on his hind legs and speaks with a French accent. Dorian is showing us how to walk and turn and jump and crouch. He's concerned by the tourist who can't get herself off the ground. Dorian explains that if we ever get lost we should press the "respawn" button which will put us right back where we began.