Throughout this week, the FILMIN platform will be broadcasting the 10 finalist films of +RAIN Film Fest, the first European festival of films created with artificial intelligence (AI), that was held last Wednesday on the UPF Poblenou campus. These films, by directors of eight different nationalities, can be seen on the platform from today, Monday, 19 June, until next Sunday, 25 June.

The films that will be broadcast via FILMIN include the three films awarded by the  jury of +RAIN Film Fest. They are Of Youth, by  Fran Gas (Spain), which won Best Film Award, Kiss/Crash, by Adam Cole (UK), which received the Jury Special Prize, and Algorithms of Beauty, by Miléna Trivier (Belgium), which won the Special Mention.

You will also be able to see the other seven finalist films, selected from the 48 submissions, from 15 different countries, which were presented at the international call launched by +RAIN Film Fest. Below we provide an overview of the festival finalists.

Of youth by Fran Gas (Spain), Best Film Award: 4:41 minutes

The film reflects on how today’s society especially values youth and conversely relegates the elderly. Many of the images of the film, generated with AI, show beings with reptilian form and retro aesthetics, consistent with the disturbing nature of the story, in which many people see how they are robbed of youth and grow to old age in a matter of seconds.

Kiss/Crash by Adam Cole (UK), Jury Special Prize: 01:16 minutes

Based on images created with AI that allude to the similarities between the collision of two vehicles and the collision between two people in amorous or sexual encounters.

Algorithms of beauty by Miléna Trivier (Belgium), Special Mention: 20 minutes

The film reflects on the similarities or differences between real flowers, their material representation through handcrafts and the virtual flowers created with AI.

Sarah Palin forever by Eryk Salvaggio, finalist (USA): 12:51 minutes

It tells the story of a teenager who has spent her entire life inside a political rally that is repeated over and over again in a hangar at Maine airport.

Extreme Access by Darius Shaoul and Gabriel Mcgee, finalist (Canada): 09:28

A film made with completely artificial images, animated by hand, which reflects on how our reality is influenced by the Internet and technologies.

Cosita del manglar by Carla Lombardo (Argentina), finalist: 04:13

The work contrasts nature and living beings with the artificial networks of AI. Living beings are represented by the mangrove, the ecosystem formed by trees that grow in salty areas near the mouths of rivers in tropical areas. The use of AI is represented by images created artificially from human cues.

People Portrait of the Jungle by Eddie Won (Malaysia), finalist: 14:50

This work pays tribute to the director’s grandfather, a communist guerrilla who fought British colonial forces in Malaysia in the mid-20th century, with AI imagery mostly recreating the jungle environment.

My Word by Carme Puche Moré (Spain), finalist: 03:17

An audiovisual creation project based on artificial intelligence technology that reflects on the biases that AI tools reproduce within the framework of a patriarchal and colonial system.

January by Bruno Carnide (Portugal), finalist: 02:22

A film generated entirely using artificial intelligence, which expresses artists’ struggle to recover their creative freedom in an environment increasingly influenced by AI.

Abyss by Jeppe Lange (UK), finalist: 13:26

Abyss is a sequence of 10,000 chained images, each of which bears similarities to the preceding and the following ones.

A festival for debate, reflection and experimentation on cinema with AI

+RAIN Film Fest, organized by UPF with the support of the Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council, is a partner of Runway and is part of the Sónar+D programme. It is the first European festival of film created with AI, following on from the first in the international arena, AI Film Festival, organized by Runway last February in New York. In addition to recognizing the best films created with AI, the event featured activities of debate, reflection and experimentation on the ethical, aesthetic and political implications that AI poses in the world of cinema.

After the festival, the award-winning films were also screened last Thursday and Friday, 15 and 16 June, at Sónar+D, held at the Montjuïc exhibition centre. They will also be shown at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) within the framework of the exhibition it will be organizing on AI in the autumn.

The finalist films of +RAIN can be seen at the following link of FILMIN: https://www.filmin.es/festival/rain-film-festival