A warm welcome to the audience and to all of you — artists, innovators, and explorers of audiovisual language and computer systems — who have made this fourth edition of the Burano AI Film Festival possible.
It has been a true privilege for me to chair a jury composed of such exceptional figures as Luca Magnoni, Maria Grazia Mattei, Graziano Pallotta, Sebastiano Vitale, and Roberto Malini — professionals of rare talent who have each helped shape the worlds of communication, art, sound, and, of course, technology and innovation.
When evaluating the submitted projects, each of us brought to the festival different perspectives and specific sensitivities. It was precisely this diversity that made the voting process horizontal and democratic. In respecting the various categories and awards, some jurors focused on the professional dimension and the market potential of the works; others emphasized creativity and innovative storytelling; some highlighted emerging voices — those capable of being original precisely because they are free from convention — while others prioritized content above all, the message beyond the form.
The criteria, therefore, were multiple and often intertwined, yet despite the diversity of approaches, we found ourselves in agreement almost every time. Above all, on one crucial point: the film that would win this festival had to embody all the essential qualities we each valued — it had to be, in one word, complete.
Although the debate was rich and multifaceted — a testament to the high quality of the competing works — the final decision was unanimous. There was no doubt about who deserved the victory: The Hidden Tremor, a French short film by Léo Cannone. A work of extraordinary sensitivity, capable of merging narrative continuity with a vision that captures the gaze and carries it into a world made of energies and sounds that alter reality until it becomes metaphysical. Sequences that, with disarming naturalness, project the viewer into a space of stillness, transformation, and evolution — into time itself. In The Hidden Tremor, a paradox is revealed: that of a nature both accelerated and yet perceived in slow motion, where the non-human manifests with hypnotic clarity. Sound and image merge into continuous harmony, and artificial intelligence, used with restraint and balance, dissolves into the very language of the work, becoming a pure instrument in service of the film’s structure.
Alongside the main winner, several other outstanding works were also recognized:
The Mars Novella by Carmen Gloria Pérez (Prediction Award)
Love Is A Dog From Hell by Wenkai Wang (Music Video Award)
Dark, Light, Yellow by Fran Gas (Experimental Artist Award)
The Star Shepherd by Xuan Li (Animation Award) — a small jewel where animation, though created with an impressively high level of technological sophistication, recalls the stop-motion technique, with characters and settings that seem handcrafted from natural, artisanal materials.
Completing the list of awardees:
The Stories Water by Rodrigo Glenn (Screenwriting Award)
MANIC: The Noise We Called Salvation by Jeongung Jo (Cinematic Singularity Award)
Alas de Papel by Amaru Zeas Siguenza (Ethical Award).
Special Awards were also introduced at BAIFF 2025 to honor works that came close to victory but, for technical reasons or due to category limitations, deserved a dedicated recognition:
• Ying’e by Yu Enjian — for bringing to the world of AI innovation an artwork that respects and enhances the great tradition of Chinese animation.
• Ratvertising by Blanca de Frutos — for its originality, concept, and profoundly contemporary message.
• A Feather and a Prayer by Erika Zorzi and Matteo Sangalli — for narrating through a consistent and unique visual style that remains coherent with the content throughout the animation.
• Armed Peace by Gabriele Donati — for the originality of using a fully AI-generated production in the service of social values.
• On Her Self by Federica Rodella — for its poetic narrative and the remarkable achievement of meaningful artistic values in the debut work of a promising filmmaker.
We live in an era of deep transformation in language, one that raises crucial questions: Who tells the story? Who creates? Where does authorship reside when the tool becomes so powerful that it seems autonomous?
The answer promoted by this festival lies precisely in the role of the author. Artificial intelligence is a tool that can expand expressive possibilities, make visible what was once only imagined, and accelerate the passage from thought to form. Yet, intention, choice, vision, and the urge to tell stories remain profoundly human qualities. The projects submitted and awarded at BAIFF 2025 are clear examples of how technology can once again serve the expressive will that originates — and stays — within the artist. This direction of research touches the very way we imagine the culture of the future and the evolution of our societies, without giving up authorship, individuality, and, most importantly, humanity.
A special thank-you to BAIFF 2025 and its representatives: President Andrea Seno, Vice President Marco Nardin, Director Giovanni Balletta, Artistic Director Hanna Rudak, Head of Institutional Relations Giovanni Selvatico, and the coordination team led by Piergiorgio Baroldi. Exceptional professionals serving a festival that bridges the values of traditional cinema with the new potential of artificial intelligence, fostering a profound pursuit of innovation, communication, and originality.
Thank you to all the authors for the emotions and perspectives you have shared with us through your participation in BAIFF 2025.
Dario Picciau
President of the Jury
BAIFF 2025