Italian
The best short films combining cinema and artificial intelligence were awarded in Venice. The Cinema That Never Was and Un Rêve Liquide also took to the podium
VENICE – The charm of cinema met the potential of artificial intelligence in the second edition of the Reply AI Film Festival, the international competition created by Reply and open to creatives from all over the world who make short films with the support of new technologies.
After selecting the best from over 2,500 entries from 67 countries, the jury chaired by Gabriele Muccino crowned Jacopo Reale’s Love at First Sight as the winner, rewarding it for its originality, production quality and conscious use of AI in every creative phase. The short film explores the theme of observation and the emotions that can arise from an illusion, using AI to distil stories into their visual and narrative essence.
Second prize went to Mark Wachholz’s The Cinema That Never Was, a “love letter” to the lost dreams of cinema, while third place was awarded to Andrea Lommatzsch’s Un Rêve Liquide, which recounted how AI had become an unprecedented creative opportunity for him.
There were two special awards: the Lexus Visionary Award went to Instinct by Marcello Junior Costa, for its ability to integrate technology, design and vision of the future, and the AI for Good Award went to Clown by Shanshan Jiang, for highlighting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This year’s theme, “Generation of Emotions”, guided participants to explore how AI can generate authentic and engaging emotions through cinematic language. “This edition confirms that AI, when used consciously, can amplify creativity and offer new possibilities to young talents,” emphasised Filippo Rizzante, CTO of Reply.
The winning short films are available on the website aiff.reply.com.
