Overall winner 'To Dear Me' by Gisele Tong, second place:
'One Way' by Egor Kharlamov, and third place: 'Jinx' by Mansha
Totla.
Centered around the theme “Synthetic Stories, Human Hearts,”
the finalist works were selected by an international jury and
presented in Venice during the award ceremony organized by Reply
and Mastercard.
The winners of the first edition of the Reply AI Film Festival
have been announced, the competition for authors of original short
films made with Artificial Intelligence (AI), conceived by Reply, a
leading international group in the creation of new business models
enabled by AI and Digital Media. The awards event, organized in
collaboration with Mastercard, was held at the Priceless lounge of
the Hotel Excelsior in Venice.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240904521664/en/
Reply presents the inaugural Reply AI
Film Festival, an international competition where Artificial
Intelligence (AI) serves not only as a catalyst for innovation in
the realm of creative storytelling but also as a tool for fostering
inclusivity among younger generations in video and film production.
(Photo: Business Wire)
The award for Best Short Film was given to 'To Dear Me'
by Gisele Tong, which tells the story of a young woman,
tormented by memories of her parents' divorce and her mother's
loneliness, struggling with love, feeling lost and distrustful,
until she realizes that finding her true self is the key to healing
and moving forward.
Second place went to 'One Way' by Egor Kharlamov,
a story about how life can offer a second chance even when it seems
there's nothing left to lose. The film ponders on what the price of
this second opportunity is.
Third place was awarded to 'Jinx' by Mansha Totla,
that focuses on the memories of World War II through the voice of
the main character, Jinx Akerkar, and emphasizes on the fragility
of life. An intense dedication to those who lost their lives during
the war and those who are still affected by that loss today.
The three winning short films were built around the theme
"Synthetic Stories, Human Hearts" and were selected from the
twelve finalists by an international jury, which was composed of
Adam Kulick, Caleb & Shelby Ward, Denise Negri, Filippo
Rizzante, Flavio Natalia, Julien Vallée & Eve Duhamel, Monica
Riccioni, Paul Trillo, and Rob Minkoff.
To identify the finalists, the jurors reviewed over 1,000 short
films submitted from more than 59 countries, including the USA, UK,
Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, China, India, and Korea. AI
artists, directors, writers, animators, VFX artists, but also
amateurs were in the talent pool who were competing in the contest,
preferring the Narratives and Experimental
categories, chosen respectively by 38% and 36% of participants -
followed by Documentary (14%) and Pilots (12%).
“To Dear Me, inspired by the animated short film Liebestraum by
Yan Xiaoxuan, is a letter written by the creative team to girls and
women everywhere. The story condenses the experiences of the many
girls and women around them - their mothers, friends, and students.
Many of these women carry the scars and flaws of their upbringing,
lacking love, yearning for love, but unsure how to love. They often
swing between love and hatred, desperately trying to hold onto
anyone who loves them, investing all their emotions until they get
hurt and become afraid to open their hearts again. They can even
lose themselves in a web of false pretenses, doubting if they will
ever find true love or even retain the ability to express it
properly. With this short film, I want to tell these tender souls
around me that even if we lose the love of the world, we must still
love ourselves. I encourage them to take a good look at their own
lives - the good and the bad - as these precious experiences have
shaped each of us into the unique individuals we are. Rescue your
past self and empower your present self. My dear girls, it has not
been easy on this journey of growth, but remember to love
yourselves well and give yourselves a warm embrace,” commented
Gisele Tong, who was awarded first place in the
competition.
“We are very happy to be part of the festival! This is a great
honor and joy for us! Technology is moving forward and the fact
that today there is such an opportunity to use artificial
intelligence as a tool in the creation of movies and animation, is
an incredible breakthrough. A story in a movie can now be told by
anyone, that's great! It is important to remember that any
technology is a tool in the hands of man, an incredibly powerful
tool and let it serve for the benefit of mankind. Thank you to the
festival for highlighting the first steps of new opportunities!”
commented Egor Kharlamov, the second-place winner.
“The Reply AI Film Festival has been an incredible experience
and I’m so happy that my film, ‘JINX’ was selected as a finalist.
The festival team has been so attentive and the appreciation of my
work has motivated me to further believe in myself. I was stuck for
the past 3 years as I didn’t simply want to fill in the gaps of my
film with random stock footage of the war. Thus, the most
significant thing about my film was the use of AI to create WW2
footage that is authentic to my subject’s story. I believe that in
the future, AI will transform the filmmaking industry and it’ll be
interesting to see how we incorporate AI's capabilities with our
human vision and artistic intuition,” commented Mansha
Totla, the third-place winner.
“The winners of the Reply AI Film Festival demonstrate how
Artificial Intelligence enables the creation of new narratives,
innovative, and visually captivating content, while maintaining the
essential human element—the vision, heart, and soul of a film,”
said Filippo Rizzante, CTO of Reply. “The Reply AI Film
Festival has become an important opportunity to highlight
innovation and creativity, offering young talent the chance to
immerse themselves in new technologies, acquire advanced skills,
and create new, more accessible and sustainable creative
scenarios.”
“We are pleased to have hosted in Venice the awards event of the
Reply AI Film Festival, a competition that enhances the creativity
of young film talents, offering them a unique opportunity for
interaction and expression,” said Luca Fiumarella, Head of
Marketing Italy at Mastercard. “We are committed to promoting
initiatives where technology combines with great passions, creating
new opportunities to bring people closer to the world of art and
cinema. Our goal is to make artistic production more accessible and
inclusive, using technological innovation to fuel creativity and
support new generations in pursuing their aspirations.”
The Reply AI Film Festival was created by Reply as part
of its program to promote new technologies among younger
generations. The goal is to foster a culture of innovation and
provide a new, stimulating space for experimentation, offering
a space where AI can be put to the test as an ally of human
creativity and demonstrate that the synergy between people and
technologies can enable new scenarios that are more accessible to
anyone who possesses the spark of creativity. The competition is
part of the Reply Challenges, a program of
technological and creative competitions that testify to Reply's
commitment to developing innovative educational models capable of
engaging new generations. Today Reply's Challenges have a
community of more than 150,000 participants.
To see the winning short films and finalists, visit
aiff.reply.com.
Reply
Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] specialises in the design and
implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and
digital media. Reply is a network of highly specialised companies
supporting key European industrial groups operating in the telecom
and media, industry and services, banking, insurance and public
administration sectors in the definition and development of
business models enabled for the new paradigms of big data, cloud
computing, digital media and the Internet of Things. Reply services
include: Consulting, System Integration and Digital Services.
www.reply.com
Mastercard
Mastercard is an international payments technology company. Our
goal is to create connections and promote an inclusive digital
economy from which everyone can benefit, wherever they are, through
secure, simple, fast and accessible transactions. By being able to
rely on secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, and our
products and solutions, we help consumers, financial institutions,
governments and businesses reach their full potential. With a
presence in more than 210 countries and territories, we are
building a more sustainable world that offers priceless
opportunities for all. www.mastercard.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240904521664/en/
Reply Fabio Zappelli f.zappelli@reply.com Irene Caia
i.caia@reply.com
Mastercard Giuliana Abbate E.
Giuliana.Abbate@mastercard.com
Omnicom PR Group Ufficio Stampa Mastercard T. 02 6241 19
E. mln.mastercard@fleishmaneurope.com
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