On Wednesday, 3 December 2025, the Aula Magna of AANT in Rome hosted the presentation of Tales from Neurocene, an innovative experimental animated film project conceived by director Luigi Maria Perotti and inspired by the theories of Prof. Marco Gori of the University of Siena.
The event, organized as part of the activities of the new research HUB geniaLAB dedicated to artificial intelligence, was moderated by Prof. Gianna Angelini, scientific director and head of internationalization at AANT.
At the heart of the meeting was the screening of “The Final Chapter”, a short film of about 10 minutes that serves as a prologue to the narrative universe of Tales from Neurocene. This brief film – a teaser created entirely with artificial intelligence tools – immerses the viewer in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world governed by a centralized AI called “N”, tasked with re-educating humanity so that it “does not repeat the same mistakes” made in the past.
The idea of the Neurocene – the name given to this scenario – stems from the desire to imagine what might happen if, in the coming years, we fail to find a different approach to the potential of AI. The short film presented at AANT is therefore a creative provocation intended to prompt reflection on the future of artificial intelligence and on the ethical and environmental implications of its development.
During the presentation, Perotti and Gori explained how Tales from Neurocene was born from a meeting at the University of Siena, where Prof. Gori and his team (SAILab) are working on an approach to AI that is less energy-intensive and more decentralized than current models. In particular, they highlighted the problem of the high resource consumption of today’s AI systems: each individual query to an AI model can require the same amount of energy as charging a smartphone, and it is estimated that within five years the energy and water consumption of AI could match that of a country like Japan. These figures aroused considerable interest among students, opening a debate on the urgent need to rethink intelligent technologies in a sustainable way.
Category: Events
From Mimesis to Machine:
AANT at the Swiss Institute’s AI conference
Today, Thursday 27 November, the conference “From Mimesis to Machine: AI and the Evolution of Artistic Creation” is being held at the Swiss Institute in Rome, as part of the Innovation series and in collaboration with HEAD – Genève.
The event, held entirely in English, brings together designers, historians and educators for a day of talks and workshops, with the aim of exploring how artificial intelligence is redefining our relationship with images, tradition and knowledge. It also reflects on how academic art education is responding to these changes in a critical and creative way.
Representing AANT is the Scientific Director and Head of Internationalization, Prof. Gianna Angelini, who will speak about the Academy and describe how AI is now deeply integrated into AANT’s teaching across all study programs (Three-year Bachelor’s Degrees, Specialist Two-year Programs and Master’s) at AANT in Rome, during the panel: “Teaching Creativity in the Age of Algorithms.”
Game and Virtual Design: AANT Launches the New Academic Year’s Mobility Programme
From 24 to 28 November 2025, AANT’s Game and Virtual Design coordinators, Simone Mari and Ennio Pirolo, will be in Stuttgart to take part in the International Week at Hochschule der Medien, officially inaugurating the mobility activities of the new academic year.
The collaboration between AANT and the German university is now well established and, in addition to the usual short-term mobility opportunities for students and staff, this year also introduces long-term mobility options specifically dedicated to students.
The working week includes seminars, workshops, and interactive activities designed to provide participants with tools and strategies to develop innovative international collaborations. The programme will address several key topics, including:
- promoting resilience to better recognise and manage stress related to university life;
- exploring the world of videogames from technical, creative, and cultural perspectives, through lectures held by experts from the gaming sector;
- presentations by HdM partner universities illustrating international study opportunities available to interested students.
Internationalisation is a crucial element of AANT’s educational and research activities. The International Relations Office, led by the Head Prof. Gianna Angelini, supports and develops partnerships with foreign universities, promoting student and staff mobility and fostering genuine intercultural learning.
OPEN AANT: Domitilla Dardi presents
EDIT Napoli
On Tuesday, 18 November, AANT hosted a presentation of EDIT Napoli, led by Domitilla Dardi. Students from the bachelor’s programmes had the opportunity to learn about the origins of this important editorial design fair, founded in June 2019.
Now in its 7th edition, EDIT Napoli was created to fill a gap in the landscape of design fairs. On one side are independent designers who are too small to take part in large international events such as the Salone del Mobile; on the other, companies that produce high-quality objects but struggle to establish a dialogue with buyers, designers, and industry professionals.
Dardi’s project addresses this very need: to create a platform capable of connecting niche creative realities with architects, interior designers, retailers, and sector operators, while promoting an authentic, responsible, and research-driven approach to design.
About the guest: Domitilla Dardi is a design historian and curator. Since 2010 she has been the design curator at MAXXI – the National Museum of 21st-Century Arts in Rome, and in 2022 she was appointed Senior Curator. She has been a visiting professor at several Italian and international universities, collaborates with specialized magazines, and is the author of numerous monographs and essays on design culture.
AANT at the Salone dello Studente 2025:
where passion meets future skills
Once again this year, AANT took part in the Salone dello Studente at the Fiera di Roma, bringing its new creative concept:
“Love is the only thing that matters. Yes, but you need skills.”
At the fair, we wanted to express this message not only through words, but also through:
- dedicated materials designed by our creatives
- customized gadgets and bags, conceived as small storytelling objects
- visuals and setups that transformed our stand into a narrative space
At the Salone dello Studente, we met hundreds of young people eager to discover their talent. Thanks to the contributions of our tutors and students, we were able to share with them the spirit and energy of our creative community.
Libero Bizzarri Award: creative intelligence and new forms of storytelling
From 13 to 16 November, the 32nd edition of the Libero Bizzarri Award was held at the Museo del Mare Hall in San Benedetto del Tronto. This year, the central theme of the event—organized by the Libero Bizzarri Foundation in collaboration with the Marche Region and the Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the MIC—was creative intelligence and new forms of storytelling. Through debates, talks, and screenings, the festival explored a highly topical thread: the role and influence of artificial intelligence in the world of cinema.
Among the scheduled events, one was particularly significant for AANT. On Friday the 14th, at the Academy’s headquarters in Rome, sociologist Derrick De Kerckhove—member of AANT’s Scientific Committee and its geniaLAB HUB—and Gianna Angelini, Scientific Director and Head of Internationalization at the Academy in Rome, took the stage. The meeting, titled “Connective Intelligence: the Impact of Media on Humans and Society,” also included the screening of the episode “McLuhan’s Electronic Village”, which examines the thinking of the renowned scholar through technological applications used in the fields of mass media and telecommunications.
The screening of Libero Bizzarri’s documentary provided the catalyst for an intense and multifaceted dialogue between Gianna Angelini and Derrick De Kerckhove. Prof. Angelini recalled how McLuhan redefined the categories through which we interpret modern communication, paving the way for a new sensitivity toward the media environment. Yet it fell to the next generation—De Kerckhove’s—to confront the emergence of the digital revolution, a territory McLuhan had only glimpsed and theorized.
During the conversation, Angelini described De Kerckhove as McLuhan’s “methodological and intellectual heir,” a scholar capable of expanding insights that are now more relevant than ever in the age of artificial intelligence and algorithmic pervasiveness. Revisiting McLuhan’s famous dictum “the medium is the message,” De Kerckhove underlined how it is not content that transforms us, but the medium itself—which reshapes perception, social bonds, and cognitive structures. From this premise arises his research on neuroculture, the discipline that investigates cognitive changes generated by new media environments.
The screening of Bizzarri’s documentary also brought back the voice and face of a strikingly contemporary McLuhan, capable of foreseeing the trajectory of technological transformations decades in advance. The recovered images, shown once again to the public, confirmed how essential his thought remains today for understanding not only the media but the very structure of contemporary experience.
The festival concluded on Sunday with the awards ceremony for the ITALIADOC and Opera Prima competitions—the latter dedicated to filmmakers under 35—along with the Andrea Pazienza Award for inventive use of images and graphics, the Libero Bizzarri Award for Best Documentary, and the Under 35 Audience Award.
I’ll Tell You How I Did It:
Sit Around Podcast
On Tuesday, November 11, AANT’s Aula Magna hosted Manuel Montefuscoli and Michela Cipolla, creators of Sit Around Podcast, as part of the event series titled “I’ll Tell You How I Did It.”. The meeting was moderated by Prof. Valerio Di Paola, coordinator of the Bachelor’s program in Videomaking.
The guests were able to present their podcast dedicated to creativity to the students — a project born as a radio space for dialogue and inspiration, featuring the voices of those who have managed to turn their talent into a lifelong profession. The format focuses on the connections between art, communication, and design, telling the stories and insights behind creative careers. The podcast is set to launch in February 2026, with each episode lasting between 50 and 60 minutes, inspired by the style of classic American talk shows — as if it were an informal chat among friends. Among the guests who have so far confirmed their participation in the project are: director Valerio Desiro, storyteller Il Signor Franz, pop duo Younuts!, Roman performer Er Pinto, entrepreneur Lorenzo Del Bianco, illustrator Luca Maleonte (who also created the mural in the Aula Magna), and content creator Simone Rosini. During the meeting with AANT students, Montefuscoli and Cipolla also announced that anyone interested in taking part in the organization and writing of the podcast episodes will be able to join the Farm, which will be held at the Academy in the coming months.
About the authors:
Manuel Montefuscoli is a Creative Director in advertising who, since 2009, has worked with SMEs and various multinational companies, applying creativity to corporate communication and growth.
Michela Cipolla holds a degree in Visual Arts, Communication, and Art Education. She works in cultural dissemination, aiming to bring the general public closer to a world often considered niche.
Graduation Day: a new day of celebration at AANT
On Saturday, October 18, a graduation session was held at the Academy. Eight students from the various three-year academic programs—Design, Videomaking, and Art Direction—presented their final projects before the Committee, ready to take flight toward their desired professional path.
Here are the names of the new graduates and the titles of their projects:
Carlo Calcagni: “La percezione del futuro nei videogiochi”
Greta Castagna: “Acqua: strategie curatoriali per una sensibilità ecologica nell’arte contemporanea”
Aurora Gabriele: “Tradizione e trasformazione: il nuovo volto della Masseria Coco”
Giada Giunta: “VALE”
Sergio Pauri: “L’autorialità nel Cinema”
Marzia Saulini: “Ridisegnare Roma: un progetto per semplificare l’esperienza utente di Roma Capitale”
Cristiana Tranchini: “Arsenale delle Arti: progetto di riqualificazione dell’ex arsenale pontificio”
Matteo Tulli: “Not NOW”
We extend our warmest congratulations to all of them for a future full of great achievements!
Rome Game Jam: AANT as the Stage for the Second Edition of the Creative Marathon
From October 10th to 12th, AANT hosted the Rome Game Jam for the second time — a 48-hour hackathon dedicated to the creation and development of live games, board games, and video games. Participants were divided into small teams with the goal of designing a complete game within a limited time. It was a unique opportunity for students, professionals, and enthusiasts alike to challenge themselves in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Leading the hundred or so Jammers who took part in this creative marathon were AANT professors Simone Mari, Ennio Pirolo, Francesca Zacchia, and Andrea Ferlito, CTO of Codemotion.
In just 48 hours, 18 games were created; the best one was selected by a jury composed of professionals and industry experts:
Carlo Tuzza, sound designer and composer
Federico Simonetti, researcher and co-founder of the Ex Machina collective
Lorena Rao, lecturer and video game critic for Fanpage.it and Atacore.it
MarcusKron, YouTuber and streamer
Simone Martolini, 3D modeler at Red Hog
Valerio Bernardini, game and narrative designer at Turbolento Games.
Proud to have hosted the event, AANT is already gearing up for the third edition!
AANT in Prague for the Creative Skills Week 2025
The Creative Skills Week 2025 took place in Prague from 22 to 26 September, bringing together dozens of international professionals from the cultural and creative sector for an event dedicated to lifelong learning and the development of new skills. AANT participated in the initiative with a delegation composed of General Director Rossana Quarta and Scientific Director and Head of Internationalization Gianna Angelini. Our representatives actively took part in workshops and training sessions throughout the week, bringing the Academy’s voice to this important international context.
The event, organized by ELIA (European League of Institutes of the Arts) together with Creative Prague, addressed the urgent transitions currently shaping the creative sector – from digital transformation to the green shift, as well as the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence and global socio-economic changes. These themes gathered educators, policymakers, artists, and sector leaders from across Europe, with the aim of sharing knowledge and promoting new approaches to lifelong learning, reskilling, and upskilling. The motto of the 2025 edition, “Create. Transform. Regenerate.”, reflects the shared commitment to building more adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable creative ecosystems in response to ongoing changes.
During the Creative Skills Week, the AANT delegation had the opportunity to directly explore new methodological approaches. In particular, on 23 and 24 September the CYANOTYPES Training was held, a hands-on program designed for educators, strategists, and cultural professionals, in which both Rossana Quarta and Gianna Angelini actively participated. The CYANOTYPES project represents an innovative European framework aimed at developing transversal creative skills and supporting more resilient, future-oriented educational programs. Thanks to this training, our representatives were able to explore cutting-edge teaching tools and acquire new ideas to be transferred into the Academy’s educational pathways.
The Prague week also proved to be an important opportunity for networking and the exchange of best practices. AANT’s representatives engaged with dozens of international experts, sharing the Academy’s experience in discussions and contributing to interactive sessions. These moments of dialogue fostered new contacts with colleagues from other countries and provided valuable insights to be brought back to the Academy, further enriching the knowledge base and innovative perspectives of our institution.