GUIDELINES FOR AWARD ASSIGNMENT

A warm welcome to the audience and to all of you — artists, innovators, and explorers of audiovisual language and computational systems — who have made this fourth edition of the Burano AI Film Festival possible.

It has been a privilege for me to chair a jury composed of exceptional figures such as Luca Magnoni, Maria Grazia Mattei, Graziano Pallotta, Sebastiano Vitale, and Roberto Malini — professionals of rare talent who have helped shape the worlds of communication, art, sound, and, of course, technology and innovation.

In evaluating the submitted works, each of us brought different perspectives and unique sensibilities to the table. It was precisely this diversity that made our voting process both horizontal and democratic. Within the framework of the festival’s categories and awards, some jurors focused on professional quality, others on market potential in the mainstream sphere; some prioritized creativity and narrative innovation, while others sought out emerging voices — those who stand out precisely because they are free from convention. And there were those who defended content above all else — the message beyond the form.

The criteria, therefore, were multiple and often intersecting. Yet despite the variety of approaches, consensus was reached almost every time. Especially on one crucial point: the film that would win this festival had to embody all the essential qualities we each valued most — it had to be, in one word, complete.

Although the discussions were rich and nuanced — confirming the high artistic quality of this year’s entries — the final decision was unanimous. There was no doubt about who deserved the top honor: The Hidden Tremor, a French short film by Léo Cannone.
A work of extraordinary sensitivity, it combines narrative continuity with a visual rhythm that draws the viewer into a world of energies and sounds capable of altering reality — until it becomes metaphysical. The sequences project the spectator, with disarming naturalness, into a dimension of stillness, transformation, and evolution — of time itself.
In The Hidden Tremor, a paradox emerges: that of a nature both accelerated and perceived in slow motion, where the non-human reveals itself with hypnotic clarity. Sound and image merge into continuous harmony, while artificial intelligence — employed with sobriety and balance — dissolves seamlessly into the film’s language, becoming a pure instrument at the service of cinematic structure.

Alongside the Grand Winner, several other films of remarkable quality received recognition:

• 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)

• and the wonderful The Star Shepherd by Xuan Li (Animation Award), a small masterpiece in which animation — though created with a highly advanced technological expression — recalls the traditional stop-motion technique, with characters and scenes appearing handcrafted from natural, tactile materials.

Completing the list of awardees are:

• The Stories Water by Rodrigo Glenn (Screenwriting Award),

• MANIC: The Noise We Called Salvation by Jeongung Jo (Cinematic Singularity Award), and

• Alas de Papel by Amaru Zeas Siguenza (Ethical Award).

Special prizes were also introduced at BAIFF 2025, created to acknowledge films that came close to winning but, for technical reasons or lack of alignment with the established categories, deserved their own dedicated space:

• Ying’e by Yu Enjian — for bringing to the field of AI innovation a work that honors and enriches the great tradition of Chinese animation.
• Ratvertising by Blanca de Frutos — for its concept, originality, and deeply contemporary message.
• A Feather and a Prayer by Erika Zorzi and Matteo Sangalli — for the ability to maintain a coherent and distinctive visual language throughout the animation, in harmony with the narrative content.
• Armed Peace by Gabriele Donati — for the originality of employing a fully AI-generated production in the service of social values.
• On Her Self  by Federica Rodella — for its poetic narrative and the meaningful artistic maturity expressed in the debut work of a promising filmmaker.

Thank you to all the authors for the emotions and perspectives they shared with us by participating in BAIFF 2025.

Dario Picciau
President of the BAIFF 2025 Jury