Artificial intelligence sneaks into the ROS Film Festival in Alicante
The fifth ROS Film Festival, a competition focused on robots and artificial intelligence, crowned a short film from Spain as the winner. Hamelin 77, directed by Javier Ideami, marks the first short to address the power of engineering prompts in shaping how humans and machines communicate. The film’s quick, clear message to creators earned the Is Important prize and a 1,200 Euro award. The jury highlighted the variety of tools used and the depth of its commentary, noting the work’s timely treatment of the topic.
The second prize, 500 euros, went to the British short Doll+: Body Migration by Ran Zhou. The film presents surreal plastic dolls spinning in the sky to electronic rhythms, offering reflections on capitalism, virtual existence, and the essence of the human body.
The third prize, 300 euros, was awarded to Gone So Deep, a disturbing study that aligns with Black Mirror themes regarding artificial intelligence and the pursuit of immortality for loved ones.
The jury also emphasized the short film award anti-war by an Iranian director’s Sprayer; the AI-made short Ambience Piano n°1; and the note Everything Was Better Before as the best music video.
The jury’s vote was unanimous across all categories. The judging panel included Javier Ordóñez, professor of the History of Science at the Autonomous University of Madrid and president of the jury; Lorena Sanchez, editor-in-chief of QUO magazine; visual artist Daniel García Andújar from Alicante, a pioneer of NetArt in Spain; Natalia Pérez-Galdós, writer and science communicator; and Edit Felgueiras, science communicator at CERN and director of the Braga Science Festival. The award ceremony took place Friday at Teatre Arniches, prior to the screening of the director’s latest film. Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams was presented before its theatrical release. The festival continues with two stage shows on Saturday and Sunday.
short film award
Hamelin 77 (Spain). Governing Javier Ideami
Hamelin 77 is a short fiction film exploring the relationship and communication between humans and artificial intelligence systems. It examines rapid engineering, the art and science of guiding prompts to become a more natural language. Generative AI techniques are used within the production, including NeRF for reconstruction and navigation of 3D spaces, text-to-image generation, refinement of generative models, video interpolation in latent spaces, speech and text rendering, and post-production visual effects.
Summary: Lara, a school teacher, interviews for an engineering position at Nawu Corporation. The film uses language to direct AI systems and reveals a surprising discovery that tests the balance between humans and machines when an electrical failure occurs during the interview.
Doll+: Body Migration (United Kingdom). Screenplay and direction Ran Zhou
Synopsis: Plastic dolls dance in the sky to a pop melody. In a posthuman world, the yellow-orange plastic figure exists in a Chinese factory and lacks gender or biological ties, living in a virtual realm where disease, death, and beauty lose their meaning.
So Deep (United Kingdom). Governing Chris Overton
Synopsis: A grieving father, mourning his daughter, uses computer technology and artificial intelligence to relive cherished memories. The story carries a warning about society’s reliance on technology.
Best Music Video: Everything Was Better Before (Italy), by Lu Pulici
The music video portrays a submarine captain navigating a polluted ocean as he and his crew seek to save friends and marine life. Created entirely from recycled materials, the piece sends a powerful message about protecting the oceans and invites collective action before it is too late.
Best Animated Film: Sprayer (Iran), Farnoosh Abedi
Sprayer presents a virtual painting tool for creating digital art in virtual reality using real-world images as palettes. Set in lands occupied by a pest-control force, the story follows a soldier who discovers a seed, sparking a journey toward something extraordinary and revolutionary.
Best AI-Made Film: Ambience Piano n°1 (Canada), Myk Eff
The film investigates how a musical composition might inhabit its own world, envisioning a piano universe. Artist Myk Eff has exhibited widely in new media art and publishes digital imagery on the Loupe Art platform.
CITATION: ROS Film Festival, Alicante, festival results and winners. This summary is provided for informational purposes based on festival coverage.