WEMW 2025
OFFICIAL TRAILER
WEMW 2025 official trailer was kindly crafted by Italian director Andrea Gatopoulos, who has been working up close with A.I. and virtual realities.
Inspired by the works of Polly in Wonderland – the artist behind WEMW 2025 official image and new visual identity (link) – Gatopoulos resorted to artificial intelligence to breathe life into an unlikely cast of dancers: they are the ideas that once lived in our imagination and are now finally able to take the stage.
About the vision behind the trailer, Andrea said “We all fell in love with cinema because it seemed capable of concretely realizing the wildest ideas of our imagination. Yet, especially in recent years, it has become clear how cinema’s subordination to the economic system imposes limits – often unbearable – on the ideas directors can bring to production, stifling and mutilating imagination itself. It is no coincidence that artificial intelligence has arrived precisely at this moment, with the promise – insidious, thorny, fraught with contradictions and consequences – of liberating images from reality and, in doing so, from their structural and production constraints. Suddenly, it seems possible once again to imagine boundless worlds, bring them to life, and make them dance in the theater of our imagination, just as we did when we were children! Among the many topics to address in this new era of images, this is undoubtedly a positive light, urging us to reimagine and become creators of worlds once more, rather than mere narrators of individual stories – as dictated by the epidemic of autofiction. It can also prompt us to deal with numerous other issues, both regulatory and social, that still remain unresolved, to confront them now, before it is too late.”
A.I. not only touched upon the images of the trailer, but it also engaged in a dialogue with the notes and score by composer Alan Malusà Magno. Asked about the process Alan commented:
“The composition emerged right from the start, with score and ideas both clear in my mind, keeping the focus on a distinct classical imaginary based on the director’s “desiderata” for his compelling video.
The preliminary research conducted to shape the project sparked from a dialogue with A.I., which allowed me to quickly connect a vast landscape of influences and references, implementing pieces of information that I could have otherwise left overlooked or unexplored.
Both my orchestration choices, led by the animated figures, and the underlying narrative construction also benefited from this new technology. As a matter of fact, the transition from written form to a demo replicating the sound of real musicians – which once required hours of work – has now become almost immediate. The adoption of A.I. significantly minimizes the need for human intervention throughout different stages of composing, allowing me to focus on the creative process as I had an ensemble at my disposal, ready to read their parts, even the most “surreal” ones. New paths are now opening to a more instant and fluid creativity, within reality’s irreplaceable beauty”.
This trailer fully embodies the WEMW 2025 vision, working as a perfect companion to our official image and new visual identity.
About Andrea Gatopoulos
Andrea Gatopoulos is a film director, producer and distributor. Member of the European Film Academy, alumnus of Berlinale Talents, Locarno Spring Academy and Torino Film Lab, he founded the production company Il Varco Cinema, the distribution Gargantua and the film residency Nouvelle Bug. He graduated in Modern Literature and studied in workshops directed by Werner Herzog, Radu Jude and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. His films, mainly done combining guerrilla low budget filmmaking with avant-garde technologies, deal with virtual realities, uncanny valleys, disillusion, anti-capitalism and critiques of progressivism.
His film Happy New Year, Jim (2022) was the first machinima to be presented in Cannes, at the 54. Quinzaine des Realisateurs. In 2023 he presented in Locarno Eschaton Ad, a film about the apocalyptic advent of AI. Later that year he presented A stranger quest (2023), his first documentary feature about maps at Torino Film Festival. In 2024 his short film The Eggregores’ Theory opened the 39. Venice Film Critics’ Week as the first AI generated film in Venice Film Festival and was nominated for European Film Awards by ZINEBI.
Find out more here
About Alan Malusà Magno
Alan Malusà Magno is a versatile musician and composer, with a creative spectrum ranging from rock to jazz. He is keen on experimental and symphonic music and his art is able to adapt through a variety of contexts, with a distinct inclination towards composing for images.
His experience has led him to integrate music with theater and film, creating an artistic vision that blends sound, images, and performance. He also holds an extensive live performance experience and has worked in original music ensembles, composing and performing live.
He studied musical composition in various academic settings, including the “F. Vanezze” Conservatory (Rovigo), the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Rome), and the “Casa della Musica” (Trieste), refining his technique both in the cinematic and musical fields. He also has a solid jazz background, having completed his studies at the “G. Tartini” Conservatory (Trieste).
Alan is also a theatre trained artist, having earned his degree in Acting at the “Nico Pepe” Civic Academy of Dramatic Art (Udine) where he currently teaches music, sharing his passion and knowledge with a new generation of artists.
Find out more here