Co-organized by UPF and Sónar, the second edition of +RAIN Film Festival, the first international festival of film generated using artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe, will be held in Barcelona between 11 and 14 June and will gather the most outstanding profiles in the fields of research, experimentation and AI-assisted film-making. In this edition, +RAIN will showcase the figure of the artist and the role of AI in relation to identity and the creation and recreation of individual and collective memory.

+RAIN Film Festival focuses on research, aesthetic and narrative experimentation and the integration of generative AI in audiovisual creation processes. +RAIN is defined as being a space for dialogue and interdisciplinary fusion in which the most critical aspects in relation to the integration of AI in the audiovisual sector are addressed and, at the same time, as a privileged stage for exhibiting the best film productions generated with AI at an international level. The festival explores contemporary film storytelling based on this technology and its aesthetic, ethical, political, social and cultural implications. +RAIN is promoted by the Communication Departament, the DTIC (Departament of Information and Communications Technologies) at UPF  and ARSENAL: the knowledge transfer and innovation ecosystem driven by the UPF Department of Communication. Soon, all persons interested in attending +RAIN will be able to register on the upf.edu/web/rainfilmfest website.

+RAIN AT UPF

The UPF Poblenou campus is to host +RAIN from 11 to 14 June, a festival that consists of different spaces and sections. The meeting will open with RESEARCH, geared towards research into the present and future of audiovisual content creation using generative AI. Split into two sections, the first conference, RAINSIGHT, will gather prominent figures from generative AI research and industry such as Shyam Sundar (director of the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Penn State University), Marcelo Bertalmío (a researcher with the CSIC, CSO and co-founder of the startup Lucid, which offers software solutions for film and video postproduction), Christian Canton (head of engineering at META, in charge of AI), and Carlos Castillo (ICREA researcher, head of the UPF Web Science and Social Computing group. Questions about the narrative capabilities of this technology will be discussed and the implications of AI in the ethical, social, cultural, ecological, political and economic fields will be debated.

The second conference, RAINNOVA is conceived as a space for the presentation of projects and developments in the creative process, as well as experimental testing of technological solutions of generative AI applied to audiovisual conception, production and editing. The event will enjoy the presence of Carme Puche (filmmaker and vice-president of Dones Visuals), Sergio Álvarez-Napagao (filmmaker and researcher at the UPC), Jorge Caballero (filmmaker, UPF professor, film and AI researcher), Víctor Pérez (co-founder and CEO at KREA), Boldtron (CGI/3D and virtual reality artist and community catalyst at KREA), Andrés Bartos (filmmaker and producer at Noon Films), and Lucija Stojevic (filmmaker  and producer at Noon Films).

The call for submissions to close on 13 March

The FEST space will also be held on the UPF Poblenou campus, where the most important films from around the world using AI will be screened on the first day. The screenings will be accompanied by discussions involving their creators. A jury will reward the most innovative films with three awards: Best Film (€3,000), Jury Prize (€2,000), and Special Mention (€1,000). The call for submissions will remain open until 13 March.  On the second day, as a novelty, FEST will create a live film experience to highlight new creative methodologies that employ this emerging technology, and sequences of About a Hero, by Piotr Winiewicz, a film that mixes AI and the work of the legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog, will be shown for the first time.

The events at UPF will be rounded off with LIVE, a performance musical and audiovisual event of AI proposals, to enjoy, live, musical and audiovisual works that start from processes of research and experimentation with AI, as well as the aesthetic and narrative possibilities of creation with generative models. Participants include Azahara Cerezo (an artist who will activate the +RAIN LIVE digital archive), Óscar Martín (sound artist, independent researcher and programmer) who will participate with an installation, Nicola Privato (an artist and a researcher at the Intelligent Instruments Lab, where he explores with a focus on interactive technologies and AI applied to music), and Blazej Kotowski (an artist and a researcher associated with the UPF MTG). 

+RAIN AT SÓNAR+D

On 13 and 14 June at Fira Montjuïc, the seat of Sónar de Dia, a further two conferences will be held to gauge the pulse of the creators. As part of Sónar+D, on Thursday 13, FAIR will be held, a space for reflection, debate and exchange that will gather national and international experts in AI, and representatives of the audiovisual industry. Over two hours, they will address the challenges, opportunities and vectors of transformation of the audiovisual sector in the era of generative AI. The experts will include filmmakers who are creating with AI; researchers in the field of creation with AI; software developers using AI for the audiovisual sector; lawyers specializing in copyright; experts in ethics and emerging technologies, and producers and companies in the audiovisual sector. FAIR is organized by UPF and the Chair in Futures of Communication and Sónar, with the collaboration of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia. The chair will subsequently prepare a report on trends, innovations and vectors of change in the sector.

Finally, on 14th, it will be the turn of the AI & WEB3 CREATIVES SUMMIT. A space for inspiration, debate and the presentation of startups, spinoffs, around the cultural and creative industries and applied and artistic research projects with emerging technologies. The Summit will consist of two sessions: Cinema & AI and Web3 and Expanded media. The aim of this section is to inspire and publicize the emerging talent that uses, researches  and creates around these issues, and discuss the relationship between creativity and emerging technologies, the ethical use of AI, copyright, and the role of Web3 in the cultural and creative industries. It also aims to foster the relationship between the various agents. Confirmed guests include Todd Yelin (former vice-president for Product at Netflix), Nadia Piet (researcher and co-founder of AI X Design), Mads Dambso (CEO of Kaspar a.i.), Griselda Vilar (Researcher and Product Owner, Data & AI specialist at Feeder AI), Natasha Duran (founder and Co-CEO of Hulahoop), the artists Varvara & Mar, Gabriel Massan and Antoni Abad, Lino Garcia Morales (PhD in Digital Art Conservation and Restoration), and Florian Weigl (curator and researcher).

SÓNAR+D

Sónar+D is the international meeting of digital art and culture that explores how creativity changes the present and imagines new futures. Since 2013, this anti-disciplinary event has brought together in Barcelona renowned artists, technologists, creatives, musicians, designers, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, makers and hackers to participate in a programme of talks, masterclasses and tech-shows, carefully curated with the aim of inspiration and networking. For thousands of professionals and curious audiences from more than 100 countries, Sónar+D offers a unique, open and relaxed environment, where you can discover new groundbreaking works and find opportunities, learn new skills and showcase initiatives. Three fruitful days of talks, demos and workshops, shows, live concerts, exhibitions, immersive and interactive experiences, and meetings with different communities.