Diteggiatura [Fingerpicking] 18’, 2021
a film by
Riccardo Giacconi
in collaboration with
Andrea Morbio
with
Silvia Costa
Compagnia Marionettistica Carlo Colla & Figli
text written by
artificial neural network Megatron 11b
produced by
Manuela Buono – Slingshot Films
in association with
Leonardo Bigazzi – Lo schermo dell’arte
supported by
Artists’ Film Italia Recovery Fund
Fondo per l’Audiovisivo del Friuli Venezia Giulia
La “Compagnia Marionettistica Carlo Colla & Figli” è una delle più antiche e famose compagnie di marionettisti al mondo, attiva da quasi tre secoli.
Il suo archivio ospita più di tremila marionette. Ognuna ha un volto, un corpo e delle caratteristiche specifiche, che la rende unica.
«Diteggiatura» racconta, in cronologia inversa, un anno trascorso nell’Atelier Colla, seguendo i rituali di una comunità chiamata ad accompagnare l’esistenza di questi oggetti antropomorfi.
Il film è basato su un testo, pronunciato dall’attrice e regista Silvia Costa e scritto da una rete neurale artificiale.
Director’s statement
Your feet are bound with white cloths, and your hands are bound behind your back. A mask covers your face, and you are placed on a stage, alone.
The film begins with this quote. I chose it for two reasons.
First of all, because it is the point of view of a puppet – a non-human being in front of an audience composed of humans.
And then, because it wasn’t written by a human being, but by a machine. More specifically, it was written by a text generator based on an artificial neural network that, starting from a textual input, is able to produce a text of any length, on any topic.
It seemed fitting that a film about the Colla puppets – machines built to move like human beings – should be written by a text generator – a machine built to write like a human being.
Biographical note
Riccardo Giacconi has studied fine arts at the IUAV University of Venezia. His work has been exhibited in various institutions, such as Grazer Kunstverein (Graz), ar/ge kunst (Bolzano), MAC (Belfast), WUK Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne (Reims), tranzitdisplay (Prague), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin).
He presented his films at several festivals, including the New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Visions du Réel and FID Marseille, where he won the Grand Prix of the International Competition in 2015.
Festivals:
Giornate degli Autori, Venezia 2021, Notti Veneziane
Rotterdam International Film Festival
New York Film Festival
