In 1984, legendary filmmaker Frederico Fellini (1920-1993) created an advertising campaign for Campari and this year, the partnership has been revived with the international drinks business collaborating on a short film in partnership with Fellini’s niece, Francesca Fabbri Fellini.

Ms Fellini said, “My Uncle Federico was original in his ways of representing life using dreamlike elements as his means of communication. I think a project like this is a perfect way to honour his legacy. Though he took much inspiration from his past, he was always looking ahead. A similar approach was taken for this project with Campari; it is rooted in heritage yet is futuristic with the use of Artificial Intelligence.”

The short film funded by Campari and produced by Unit9, Red Diaries Fellini Forward has been released internationally and will be supported with a behind-the-scenes documentary broadcast on Amazon Prime.

Set in the heart of Rome , the film explores Fellini’s life and dreams with distinctive signature characters, including the director himself, and arrangements throughout. What is ground-breaking about the film is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Paolo Marinoni, Marketing Director – Campari Australia & New Zealand: “Campari has always been at the forefront of cocktail culture, inspiring limitless creations since its birth in 1860. This collaboration between Campari, Francesca Fellini and Unit9 unlocked a realm of creativity.

“Fellini Forward not only highlights Campari's rich history of supporting the arts and creative founders across disciplines but also our willingness to push the boundaries of creativity, to ultimately inspire creativity in others. It is with Frederico Fellini's legacy that we are able to bring this inventive film to life, we hope Australians can enjoy its uniqueness, with a Negroni in hand.”

The film & and the role of Artificial Intelligence

Documentary co-directors, Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, made the behind the scenes documentary about the short film, Red Diaries Fellini Forward. which relies heavily on Artificial Intelligence. The directors of the short film sought contribution from Oxford University Professor of Mathematics, Marcus du Sautoy, well known in the UK and Europe for his mission to popularise the language of Mathematics.

The filmmakers approcached Mr du Sautoy about using Artificial Intelligence to create something ‘Felliniesque’ – to create a film that looked like it was made by Fellini himself. The creative opportunity sparked his imagination and working alongside filmmakers he created a text generation algorithm which explored the style of Fellini’s scripts, analysing movie dialogue and the stage directions for the actors and settings within scripts. The Artificial Intelligence produced a text, Felliniesque in style, with some new and sometimes strange perspectives.

I’ve spoken to the team and the only edit they recommend is: 

The filmmakers worked with Mr du Sautoy along with Dr Emily L Spratt and Hava Aldouby, Art Historian, who were consulted about using artificial intelligence to create a ‘Felliniesque’ style film, inspired by the creative genius of Fellini himself. 

A text generation algorithm was developed which explored the style of Fellini’s scripts, analysing movie dialogue, the stage directions for the actors and settings within scripts. The artificial intelligence produced a text, Felliniesque in style, with some new and sometimes strange perspectives.

Mr du Sautoy said, “We should see Artificial Intelligence as an extraordinary collaborator; it’s a new tool, like Galileo getting a telescope and being able to see further into the universe than ever before.

“Artificial Intelligence is a tool that allows us to analyse data at a scale that humanly, we can’t possibly match.

"In this project, one of Artificial Intelligence’s greatest accomplishments was taking Fellini’s films and analysing each, frame by frame.

“Using this tool in the creative industry is an extremely exciting step forward and will assist in finding ideas that we are currently missing – Artificial Intelligence can help us break our own moulds to create new stories.”

Throughout the process, original members of Fellini’s crew were involved and consulted, providing key insights on the Maestro’s oeuvre. This included Fellini’s camera operator Blasco Giurato (The Clowns, 1970), his three-time Oscar-winning set designer Dante Ferretti (Orchestra Rehearsal, 1978; City of Women, 1980; And the Ship Sails On, 1983; Ginger and Fred, 1986; The Voice of the Moon, 1990) and Luigi Piccolo, Director of Sartoria Farani, a renowned Italian tailor’s shop which holds restored costumes from some of Fellini’s greatest films including Fellini Satyricon (1969), The Clowns (1970) and Amarcord, (1973).

A pioneering and legendary filmmaker, Fellini is the embodiment of the spirit Campari seeks to promote in its campaign to “Unlock your passion” which the business launched in May this year.

Through the Campari Red Diaries 2021: Fellini Forward project, Campari aims to continue the legacy of innovation and creativity set out by its founders, inspiring future generations and creatives across the globe to unlock their own passions.

To get a sneak peek behind the scenes of Fellini Forward, view the teaser video on YouTube here: https://bit.ly/Campari-Red-Diaries-Fellini-Forward

Or watch Red Diaries Fellini Forward on Amazon Prime.

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