NABA presents "Media Explorer", an inquiry into the future, a curious and innovative gaze upon the world of creative media, seeking new languages, emerging young authors, novel forms of storytelling, groundbreaking creative technologies, and new interactive realms. An exceptional schedule of events and initiatives, curated by Vincenzo Cuccia will unfold across Milan and Rome from February to June 2024. These events will highlight the unique nature of the Academy’s Media Design and New Technologies Area, a repository of an extraordinary variety of languages as expressed by its Bachelor of Arts in Film and Animation and in Creative Technologies, the Master of Arts in Creative Media Production, and the new one in Digital and Live Performance (proposed for A.Y. 2024/25), as well as the Academic Master in Screenwriting for Series. The first events scheduled are "NABA – Percorsi d’Autore", seven Milanese appointments will come to life from February 5, 2024 at Cineteca Milano Arlecchino, and "Story First", the Roman event that anticipates a meeting each month from February to June, starting on February 6, 2024, in Rome’s Cinema Intrastevere.
"NABA - Percorsi d’Autore" in Milan
The first event of the "NABA Media Explorer" programme is the Milanese showcase "NABA - Percorsi d’Autore" (NABA - Author's Paths), conceived within the BA in Film and Animation of Milan campus, from an idea by its Course Leader Alessandro Bertante, realised in collaboration with Cineteca Milano, set against the evocative backdrop of Cineteca Milano Arlecchino (located at Via S. Pietro all'Orto 9 in Milan). From February to June, seven public events will be held with some of the foremost directors of contemporary Italian cinema. Afterward the showcase of the films, moderated by Roberto Manassero and Dario Zonta (NABA lecturers and curators of the series), the authors will discuss the themes of their films. The first screenings will be held on February 5 and 13, presenting at 6 PM respectively "Il posto" by Mattia Colombo, guest of the event, and Gianluca Matarrese and "La Chimera" by Alice Rohrwacher.
"NABA Story First" in Rome
In February the second edition of "NABA Story First", the initiative born from the Academic Master in Screenwriting for Series in the Rome campus, will start as well. Held at Casa del Cinema di Roma (in Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1), this series of Talks is dedicated to serial storytelling. Conceived and moderated by Francesca Staasch, Course Advisor Leader of the Master, from this year is realised in collaboration with Cinematografo and within its format "Cinematografo incontra". The events, on a monthly cadence from February to June, will feature some of the luminaries of the audiovisual sector, introducing the protagonists of both cinema and television to industry professionals, students, and all enthusiasts of film and seriality. Inaugurating the series will be the appointment "The Bad Guy - La tv d'autore è possibile?”, scheduled for 6 February at 5.30 PM, during which the authors of the series Giancarlo Stasi and Giuseppe Fontana will talk with Valerio Sammarco, journalist of Cinematografo.
Other "NABA Media Explorer" events scheduled
During the first half of 2024, numerous other initiatives and projects will be part of the "NABA Media Explorer" schedule. Among these, in March, the "NABA Cinema Awards" will take place, the Academy’s short film festival that honours the best cinematic audiovisual projects created by students from the Media Design and New Technologies and Set Design Areas of Milan and Rome campus. On March 18 and 19, 2024, in Milan, afternoon screenings of the finalists will be held at Anteo Palazzo del Cinema (in Piazza Venticinque Aprile 8) from 3 PM to 6 PM in Sala Astoria; on the 19 of March at 7 PM, Sala Excelsior will host the Awards Ceremony and the screening of the winning shorts. The event will also feature a selection of VR short films produced by students from the Bachelor of Arts in Creative Media Production. On March 20 and 21, the roman version of the event will take place at Cinema Intrastevere (in Vicolo Moroni 3): over the first two days, from 3 PM to 6 PM, screenings of the finalist projects will take place. The second day will conclude with the Awards Ceremony and the screening of the winning shorts.
March 2024 will also see the week of events dedicated to the Erasmus+ project "ARS Augmented Reality multi-user virtual spaces", aimed at professionals and dedicated to technological innovation in the audiovisual and didactic field, created to test the potential of Virtual Production at the service of distance learning paths. Still, in the field of media languages, NABA is carrying out, among its research projects, "Fair_Game", which aims to support inclusiveness in higher education systems in the world of video games. The Eramus+ projects are promoted by the NABA Research Centre and Innovation Hub and involve major European institutions.
The following month, "NABA Media Explorer" presents "PLAI": the temporary exhibition that, from April 4 to 6, 2024, at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan (located at Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini 4), will publicly display for the first time the projects developed within the Academy Master of Arts in Creative Media Production. PLAI is an offline and online exhibition-playground, conceived by Michele Aquila, Course Leader of the MA, where digital meets analog in a dynamic experimentation workshop to envision new exhibition forms and explore the forefront of digital artistic production. The exhibition design project will be managed by students from the Bachelor of Arts in Set Design at NABA, and the opening will feature a performance that represents the artistic language of the new Master of Arts in Digital and Live Performance proposed for the A.Y. 2024/25.
In May, "NABA Media Explorer" will include in Rome the final award event of "Z-PITCH", the annual competition dedicated to students and recent graduates of the Schools of Cinema and Media Design in Italy, aimed at enhancing the education and creativity of the new generations in the audiovisual field. The pitching session and the award ceremony of the contest, promoted by NABA and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, in collaboration with the Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli, will take place on the upcoming May 7 at the Casa del Cinema di Roma (located at Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1).
Finally, the "NABA Media Explorer" schedule is enhanced by numerous other projects born within NABA Media Design and New Technologies Area, such as "NABAland*", NABA's island launched within the Fortnite platform – the popular online game – from an idea by Emanuele Lomello, NABA Media Laboratory Manager, and created by the Area's Laboratories and Faculty to replicate the Academy's two campus online for an interactive experience titled "NABA Mission: The Night Hero", already available in the grand court of the digital campus and the collaboration with AAMOD – Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operaio e Democratico which, over the years, has seen the creation of various initiatives such as "L’Aperossa" and the film festival "UnArchive Found Footage Fest”.
*This is a Fortnite experience by an independent creator and is not sponsored, endorsed or operated by Epic Games, Inc.
"NABA Media Explorer": scheduled appointments
NABA – PERCORSI D’AUTORE
Screening and Talks
At Cineteca Milano Arlecchino
Via S. Pietro all’Orto 9, Milan
Free access for Academy students and Cineteca members.
A reduced rate will be available for the public.
February 5 at 6 PM
“Il posto” with the director Mattia Colombo, moderated by Roberto Manassero
February 13 at 6 PM
"La Chimera" with the director Alice Rohrwacher, moderated by Dario Zonta
NABA STORY FIRST
Talk at Casa del Cinema Roma
Villa Borghese, Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, Rome
Free entrance subject to availability Fine modulo
February 6 at 17:30
"The Bad Guy - La tv d'autore è possibile?"
With the authors Giuseppe Stasi and Giancarlo Fontana in dialogue with Valerio Sammarco