CAMPARI LAUNCHES FELLINI FORWARD, THE NEW CAMPARI RED DIARIES PROJECT EXPLORING THE CREATIVE GENIUS OF FEDERICO FELLINI USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Venice, 8th September 2021; Campari, the iconic Italian aperitif, launches Campari Red Diaries 2021: Fellini Forward at the  Campari Boat – In Cinema during the  78th Venice International Film Festival - La Biennale di Venezia, a pioneering project inspired by the late Federico Fellini that uses Artificial Intelligence techniques including machine learning to explore the creative genius of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time to create a one-of-a-kind short film. Showcasing the full project is a unique documentary covering the process from start to finish, exploring the future of cinema and human vs. machine creative collaboration based on evidence found in the short movie set in Rome and key expert commentary. The documentary, which features the short film, will have its North American premiere as a Partner Presentation at New York Film Festival on the 29th September, 2021 and will be available for consumers to view in select markets on Amazon Prime Video in the coming month. 
Since its creation in 1860, Campari has pushed the boundaries of creativity to go beyond the norm, unlocking the passions and talents of artists across different fields in the path to creation. From world famous names, through to young and emerging talents, the relationship between Campari and the arts, especially cinema, has made its mark over the years, evidently still true to this day. 

CAMPARI AND FEDERICO FELLINI
A notable partnership was found when Campari collaborated with Federico Fellini on a unique advertisement in 1984. His niece, Francesca Fabbri Fellini a key partner in the development of the Fellini Forward project says “Some people are born geniuses, others become them - Federico became a creative genius. His human experiences, the environment in which he lived, his ability to take risks in bringing ideas to audiences all contributed to the creative genius that we know today”. This year, in an ode to this creative genius, Campari endeavours to continue the brand’s legacy, marrying both creativity and innovation within the cinema industry with the most forward-looking technology calling upon Artificial Intelligence specialists, creativity fellows, Fellini experts, future generations and Fellini’s crew and family themselves to contribute and comment on this unique art experiment.

CAMPARI FELLINI FORWARD: THE DOCUMENTARY 
As champion of the artistic world, Campari has embarked on its most ambitious project yet, exploring new territories and fields in both the world of cinema and technology. The Campari Red Diaries 2021 Fellini Forward documentary, directed by award-winning duo ZCDC, Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, explores the topic of creativity, art and technology in an all-encompassing and bold study, capturing the project at every stage, from research and development to the final short movie output. With observations from short film director Maximilian Niemann and innovation expert Marc D’Souza, both from production and innovation studio UNIT9, the documentary covers the full creative process, including the set up and inner workings of the Artificial Intelligence and an overview of the tools used throughout the production. 

●    The definition of ‘Felliniesque’ is established thanks to Francesca Fabbri Fellini and Federico Fellini’s old crew members who were interviewed and conferred in a round table including his camera operator Blasco Giurato (The Clowns, 1970), his three-time Oscar winning set designer Dante Ferretti (Orchestra Rehearsal, 1978; City of Women, 1980; And the Ship Sails On, 1983; Ginger and Fred, 1986; The Voice of the Moon, 1990) and Luigi Piccolo, Director of Sartoria Farani, a renowned Italian tailor shop which holds restored costumes from some of Fellini’s greatest films including Satyricon (1969). 
●    Featured throughout the documentary are key insights and commentary from significant experts of Artificial Intelligence and creativity including;
o    Symonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University Marcus du Sautoy
o    Art Historian, Data Scientist and Consultant, Dr. Emily L. Spratt
o    Art Historian and Fellini expert Hava Aldouby
o    Galleria Campari curator Anita Todesco
Each party involved provided an eclectic view on the subject at hand, sparking debate around the role that Artificial Intelligence can play in creativity, cinema and beyond, showcasing how the sentimental and the rational, the emotional and data-driven can come together seamlessly.  

Reflecting on the project, documentary duo ZCDC, Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, comment: “When we asked everybody what they understood to be Artificial Intelligence, every person had a different answer, and that speaks to the creative potential of these tools and how new, fresh, and exciting they are”  to which Anita Todesco, Galleria Campari curator, agreed stating: “Although we often perceive creativity as a human feature, I think we need to start understanding that there can be other sources of creativity. In the case of Campari Red Diaries 2021 Fellini Forward, the algorithm created certain scenes and scripts notes, in what can only be described as a creative way.” 

CAMPARI FELLINI FORWARD: THE SHORT MOVIE 
Generated thanks to the collaboration of human input and Artificial Intelligence tools, the short movie is inspired by Federico Fellini’s life, offering a metaphorical story of the debut and evolution of the Maestro in the cinema world, where the audience follows him on a journey from the very first spark of his passion as a young man up to his outstanding creations. The result was achieved thanks to the exploration of Artificial Intelligence tools, led by UNIT9, that analysed past Fellini transcripts to understand patterns in language and descriptive detail and also carried out visual analysis of the director’s signature shots including camera movement and facial emotion. From this, bespoke scriptwriting and pre-visualisation tools were developed that combined learnings from the Artificial Intelligence to leverage Fellini’s creative DNA. These Artificial Intelligence tools then made suggestions to the script and visualisation of the new short film in order to create a piece of cinema that felt Felliniesque. Building this pre-visualisation tool on top of Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation platform, also enabled director Maximilian Niemann to picture and alter scenes before they were shot. With Maximilian’s and his crew’s input, as well as those who knew Fellini well, the result translates into an innovative and original approach to filmmaking and a passionate ode to Federico Fellini’s creative genius and dreamlike world. 
Maximilian Niemann, the short movie director remarks: “There have been countless surprises in this human and Artificial Intelligence collaboration. At the very start, I was surprised at the quantity of data that the technology was able to read and its speed. It was impressive to see how it could understand the composition of filming and the emotions displayed on the screen. I was impressed with how the Artificial Intelligence came up with such great lines of dialogue! it is a great starting point for inspiration. Without a doubt, Artificial Intelligence will be part of the toolkit for many generations of filmmaking”
Through the Campari Red Diaries 2021 Fellini Forward project, Campari aims to continue the legacy of innovation and creativity set out by its founders, inspiring future generations and creatives across the globe to unlock their own passions. Campari has also created a distinct apprentice programme with students involved in the Fellini Forward futuristic projects from all over the world including Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC) in Italy, The American Film Institute in Los Angeles and The International Academy of Audio-visual Sciences (CSIA) in Switzerland to explore the creative genius of Fellini, using the Artificial Intelligence technology and speaking to key members of the film crew at each stage of production to see first-hand how human minds collaborated with Artificial Intelligence to create the short film. The Italian apprentices from CSC also featured in the documentary, providing insight from future professionals on the project. 

Jean Jacques Dubau, Head of Marketing, Campari Group speaks of the project: “We are delighted to be launching Red Diaries 2021 in honour of Italian Icon Federico Fellini. He was a pioneer and a visionary, much like Campari’s founders who constantly explored Red Passion, the urge of creativity that cannot be ignored. We are intent on continuing to bring this to the fore for the future and Fellini Forward is the perfect example, epitomising this drive thanks to new filmmaking techniques relevant to our day and age -  we cannot wait to see the journey come to fruition for the larger public” 

Fellini Forward premiered at the Campari Boat – In Cinema during the  78th Venice International Film Festival – La Biennale di Venezia with a screening of a bespoke edit of the documentary on the 7th September, preceding a North American launch as a Partner Presentation at New York Film Festival on the 29th September.
The Documentary and short movie will be available for everyone to view shortly after on Amazon Prime Video in selected markets this coming month. 
Please follow Campari’s social media channels for further information @campariofficial 

-ENDS-
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