Author: Eleonora Angelini

Telling your own story means choosing words, images, and sounds that can give shape to your experience. When these elements are combined with the tools of digital communication, a personal story can become a creative project to be shared with others.

This is the idea behind “My Story: a digital storytelling workshop for students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs)”, an initiative promoted by the Rome branch of the Italian Dyslexia Association (AID). The workshop will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at IC Fratelli Cervi in Rome, ahead of National Dyslexia Week 2026.

The workshop will engage young people with Specific Learning Disorders in a journey focused on self-narration. Drawing on their own experiences, strengths, challenges, and the strategies they have developed throughout their learning journey, participants will be guided through the process of creating a story and subsequently transforming it through digital media.

AANT will take part in the initiative as a technical partner for the audiovisual, directing, and digital production components, continuing the collaboration and training activities developed with AID Rome. The workshop will feature Valentina Miniati, lecturer and AID trainer, alongside Valeria Grasso, AANT lecturer, and Valerio Di Paola, coordinator of AANT’s Videomaking course.

Creativity, technology, and inclusion come together in an experience where digital media are not simply a means of production, but a tool through which people can tell their own stories and convey the complexity of the present.

For further information about the programme and how to participate, please visit the event page on the AID Rome website.

On 22 September, the Aula Magna at AANT became a space for exploring the intersection of memory and innovation with “Paesaggi Umani di Roma Plurale. Performing Media Storytelling per la Memoria Rigenerativa”, a project now in its second edition and part of the Rome Future Week programme.

The event brought to the Academy in Rome a reflection closely connected to contemporary research in the fields of art and new technologies: how can digital tools give voice to the places, stories and memories that shape the city?

“Paesaggi Umani di Roma Plurale” transforms the city into an environment to be explored, listened to and reinterpreted. Walkabouts, workshops, geolocated podcasts, augmented reality, video projections and Artificial Intelligence become tools for actively engaging students, citizens and performers in discovering the stories and memories of Rome’s neighbourhoods.

At the heart of the event at AANT was Performing Media Storytelling, a practice that brings together urban space, narrative and digital technologies, experimenting with new ways of building and sharing collective memory. Among the experiences presented was that of Polyhymnia, the Muse of Memory, whose 2nd-century AD statue was discovered beneath Villa Fiorelli in 1928 and is now being reinterpreted through a digital double.

A special thanks to Carlo Infante and Nuvola Project for the experience they offered to all our students.

From 8 to 11 September 2026, AANT took part in the 36th Annual EAIE Conference and Exhibition, organised by the European Association for International Education in Glasgow, Scotland. The Academy was represented by Gianna Angelini, Head of Internationalisation and Scientific Director, whose programme of meetings focused on strengthening existing collaborations and developing new academic connections. 

Bringing together more than 7,300 professionals from over 100 countries, the event gathered the international higher education community around the theme “The Rhythm of Revolution”: an invitation to reflect on change and the role of cooperation in shaping the future of education. 

For AANT, discussions centred on developing learning opportunities for students and staff: study exchanges, short programmes, collaborative workshops and professional development experiences. Meetings with existing partners provided an opportunity to review current activities and begin planning for the new academic year, while new contacts opened up possibilities across design, communication, audiovisual media and creative technologies. 

The conference also offered an opportunity to present AANT’s educational identity and discuss the development of its English-taught provision, with the aim of welcoming an increasingly international student community. This approach complements opportunities abroad with the chance to study and work on creative projects in Rome alongside people from different cultural backgrounds. Particular attention was given to the ethical and sustainable use of AI in the classroom.

AANT’s participation in EAIE continues the Academy’s work towards an education that connects creative skills, international experiences and professional practice.

A new academic year begins with the people, skills and ideas that contribute every day to shaping the identity of AANT. On Monday, September 14, the Academy hosted its Faculty Meeting, bringing together the teaching staff for a moment of exchange and discussion ahead of the start of the new academic year.

The plenary meeting was also an opportunity to welcome the new lecturers joining the AANT community, bringing with them their experience, professional expertise and fresh perspectives. The expansion of the teaching staff further strengthens the ongoing dialogue between education and the professional world, a key element of the educational approach of the Academy in Rome.

During the Faculty Meeting we discussed results and future prospects in the areas of teaching, research, internationalisation, events, and the academic offering. The coordinators of the three-year academic programmes took the floor to share perspectives, objectives and plans for supporting students throughout the months ahead.

The exchange between different disciplines, experiences and creative languages is a fundamental part of the AANT educational experience: an environment where creativity, research, design and new technologies come together and become opportunities for growth.

The Faculty Meeting concluded with shared wishes for a successful new academic year to the entire AANT community.

With the thesis presentations held on 25 July, AANT concludes its summer graduation session, celebrating a new group of students who have reached an important milestone in their academic journey. The theses discussed offer a vivid overview of the creative and design-driven approach that characterises the educational experience at the Academy in Rome. Through research, concepts and experimentation, the graduating students explored topics related to communication, visual arts, cinema and new technologies, demonstrating an approach that brings together design culture, innovation and a contemporary vision.

Below are the names of the new graduates and the titles of their respective thesis projects:

• Luca Molluso: “Harmony: regole semplici, possibilità infinite” 
• Carboni Camilla Sofia: “Oltre il labirinto della navigazione web”
• Asia Peroni: “Over the gaze: autorialità, identità e immaginario audiovisivo nel fashion film contemporaneo” 
• Alessandro Michele Alterio: “Due Facce, un cosplayer” 
• Tommaso Colucci: “Dressing will never be the same. Videoediting per raccontare thrifting, brand identity e e-commerce” 
• Emanuele DI Vico: “ERROR 404-Memory not found” 
• Benedetta Esposto: “L’estetica dell’invisibile” 
• Giovannina Onofrietti: “Ascoltando Napoli” 
• Luca Fizzano: “PROFAIL: smettere di scrollare per iniziare a giocare” 
• Riccardo De Francesco: “Nero felicità. Storie di disobbedienza cromatica” 
• Marco Casini: “INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE E COMUNICAZIONE POLITICA: dalla disinformazione artigianale al processo industriale industrializzato” 
• Ludovico D’Onofrio: “Castellaneta. Storie di pietra e di vento” 
• Simone Rossi: “How we talk: il muro come spazio di dialogo nella cultura urbana contemporanea” 
• Sabrina Cretu: “Ferre Majeure: lo spot della Nike come motore di storytelling per una campagna transmediale” 
• Giuseppe Denni: “Bandeja: presentazione di un carattere tipografico per la comunicazione del Premier Padel” 
• Daniele Poli: “Ocula: il sistema tipografico adattivo in tempo reale” 
• Valerio Pellegrini: “Libertà del volo” 

The entire AANT academic community extends its congratulations to all our new graduates and wishes them every success in a future filled with exciting professional and creative opportunities.

The day of 24 July marked one of the most significant moments of AANT’s Didactics, as students reached the culmination of their academic journey by presenting and defending their thesis projects. Each project represents the outcome of a course of study grounded in research, experimentation, and the ability to transform ideas into concrete proposals.

Below are the names of the new graduates and their respective thesis projects:

• Sarah Castelluccio: ” La multisensorialità come strumento di progettazione degli spazi di lavoro: analisi e redesign per il benessere, il comfort e la concentrazione”
• Edoardo Bonfà: “Estetizzazione della violenza nelle opere dell’audiovisivo” 
• Andrea Aufiero: “Oltre il Videoclip” 
• Giovanni Rizzuto: “Il suono nomato” Dinamica, percezione e potere tra sala cinematografica e piattaforme streaming” 
• Mattia Valentino: “UX*Ray: un toolkit per la formazione dei designer junior”
• Arianna Margheri: “Flowy: progettazione di una app per l’apprendimento dell’inglese accessibile ad utenti con ADHD e DSA” 
• Federica Marina Munteanu: “I parchi nell’era della disconnessione sociale”  
• Andrea Gigliotti: “Forma del Tragico: dalla scena attica allo schermo” 
• Virginia Ricotta: “Il Casale della Cerveletta: un progetto di riqualificazione tra memoria e contemporaneità” 

AANT congratulates all its new graduates on their commitment, determination, and the quality of the projects they have presented. We wish each of them every success as they continue their professional journey, guided by the same curiosity, creativity, and innovative spirit that have defined these thesis projects.

Hands-on learning, real-world experience, and direct engagement with professionals from the audiovisual industry: these were the defining elements of AANT students’ participation in the second edition of the Written By Script & Film Festival, held on 4–5 July 2026 under the artistic direction of Professor Raffaele Grasso.

The renewed partnership between AANT – Academy of Arts and New Technologies and the festival offered an important opportunity for students enrolled in the Videomaking, Story, Cinema and Media Design programme to gain first-hand experience behind the scenes of a cultural event, transforming the knowledge acquired in the classroom into practical professional skills.

Among the most significant projects, a group of students produced the festival’s official video podcast, “How Did You Write It?”, a series featuring interviews and in-depth conversations with the festival’s guests, which will be released throughout the year on major digital platforms. At the same time, another team was responsible for the audiovisual coverage of the event, supporting the organisation in both production and event management activities.

AANT students also took part in the Student Jury, with five representatives joining students from Sapienza University of Rome, RUFA and Accademia Renoir to award the prize for Best Screenplay. This provided a valuable opportunity to engage with screenwriters, producers and audiovisual professionals while developing a critical understanding of contemporary cinematic storytelling.

Organised by Stolen Film, with the support of Rome’s Municipality VII and under the patronage of Writers Guild Italia, 100autori, ANAC, Mujeres nel Cinema and Premio Solinas, the Written By Script & Film Festival continues to establish itself as a key event dedicated to promoting screenwriting and audiovisual storytelling.