Sitges, International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia

SITGES
COCOON
Focus-tech event
In collaboration with:
Sitges Cocoon is a programme made in the Sitges - International Fantastic
Film Festival of Catalonia that unites technology and fantastic and genre
cinema. This program is divided into four sections: Other Realities dedicated
to new technological tools applied to f ilm production, Cocoon Presents
for presentations of f inished audiovisual projects that relate technology,
genre and fantastic, NFT Creations which presents projects f rom creation
to production and distribution management with NFT, and, f inally, the
Videogame and Cinema section dedicated to technology, video games and
fantastic and genre cinema.

This event has the scientif ic curatorship of Jordi Sánchez-Navarro (Universitat

Oberta de Catalunya).
 OTHER REALITIES
New technological tools applied to film production

Program description
Artif icial Intelligence is the technology of the
future. Since its inception, the cinema showed
interest in Artif icial Intelligence in f ilms such
as Metropolis, by Fritz Lang. However, for some
time, Artif icial Intelligence has made its way
into the cinematographic world beyond the
narrative.

But how has AI specif ically changed production?

What AI-based tools does the f ilm industry grow?

WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?
ANTHROPOLOGY AND AI COMBINED AS A TOOL FOR FILMING
Activity description
Publikum helps filmmakers raise awareness of
the audience that will see their projects through
the combination of anthropological research and
artificial intelligence analysis. Toni Roig will speak
with Niels Alberg, CEO of this project, about the
insights that technology can help us create, how
filmmakers are involved in collaborations, and
why he believes it is a European way of working
with AI.
* Activity in English with simultaneous
translation
Participant
Niels Alberg: Co-founder of Will & Agency
and CEO of Publikum
Moderator
Toni Roig: Associate professor of
the Faculty of Information and
Communication Sciences, Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Researcher
at the Mediaccions research group (UOC)
Co-organizing entities
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION: THE ERA OF REAL TIME
Activity description
Punk Visual Studio have developed an in-
house real-time virtual production system.
They will present how this system works
f rom the conception of the project in the
pre-production phase, what virtual scouting
is, how it is shot on a green chroma set with
preview and real-time composition, and
what the post-production consists of in order
to reach f inal delivery. They will also review
in which scenarios, within an audiovisual
production, virtual production becomes a
tool that can range f rom the useful to the
indispensable.
Participants
Demian Sebini: CEO and co-founder of
Punk Visual Studio
Xes Vilà: CTO and co-founder of Punk
Visual Studio
Moderator
Mònica Garcia Massagué: General
Manager of SITGES – International
Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia
Co-organizing entities
 COCOON PRESENTS
SITGES FILM FESTIVAL

Program description
Presentations of f inished audiovisual projects
that relate technology, genre and fantasy.
AETERNA NOCTIS VIDEOGAME PRESENTATION

Activity description Participants

SelectaVision will exclusively present the
trailer of the new game Aeterna Noctis and
explain the uniqueness of this game. The
table will also go over details of SelectaPlay’s
work in the editing.
Javier Puertas: Director of Gaming
SelectaVisión
Manuel Guerrero: Director of Home
Entertainment SelectaVisión
Introduced by
Ángel Sala: Director of the Sitges-
Festival International of Fantastic Film of
Catalonia

Co-organizing entities
 NFT CREATIONS
NFT projects: from creation to production and
distribution management with NFT

Program description
This section shows different projects f rom creation
with NFT to management of productions and
distributions with NFT. An NFT production is unique,
indivisible, transferable and capable of proving its
scarcity.
LIVE STORYTELLING EVENT: BLOCKCHAIN FAIRY TALES
Activity description
What if Happy Ever After was not a guarantee?
Blockchain Fairy Tales is an immersive
storytelling experience from the Columbia
DSL made by many. The project invites
participants to step into an enchanted world
powered by collaborative storytelling, play and
design. In this special session at Sitges those
formerly known as the audience will become
storytellers. Together they will craft a world
that connects seven generations over space
and time. Over the course of two hours their
collective ideas will come to life on the sliver
screen.
This activity is carried out in collaboration
with the research project “Narrative Cultures”:
Digital storytelling, social action and creation
of publics (D-STORIES)” developed by UOC’s
Mediaccions and GAME research groups, with
funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Innovation (Grant reference: RTI2018-
098417-B-I00).
* Activity in English. Children under 16 may be
admitted only if accompanied by an adult.
Participants

Nick Fortugno: Game designer and

educator. CCO of Playmatics LLC
Jorgen van der Sloot: founder of
Minkowski and member of Columbia’s
Digital Storytelling Lab

Toni Roig: Associate professor of

the Faculty of Information and
Communication Sciences, Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Researcher
at the Mediaccions research group (UOC)
Jordi Sánchez-Navarro: associate
professor and Dean of the Faculty
of Information and Communication
Sciences, Universitat Oberta de
Catalunya (UOC). Coordinator of the
Learning, Media and Entertainment
Resarch Group (GAME)

Co-organizing entities
The Columbia DSL designs stories for the 21st Blockchain Fairy Tales is a Columbia DSL
Century. We build on a diverse range of creative prototype made by maby. The core team are
and research practices originating in fields currently:
from the arts, humanities and technology. But
we never lose sight of the power of a good story. Lance Weiler Jorgen Van Der Sloot
Technology, as a creative partner, has always
shaped the ways in which stories are found and Nick Fortungo Stephen Smith
told. In the 21st Century, for example, the mass
democratization of creative tools – code, data Romy Nehme Olivia Powell
and algorithms – have changed the relationship
between creator and audience. The Columbia Takaaki Okada Tanya Vlach
DSL, therefore, is a place of speculation, of
creativity, and of collaboration. New stories are Char Simpson Reinier Clabbers
told here in new and unexpected ways.
REVOLUTIONIZING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

Activity description
At Filmio, Creators can craft their stories in
collaboration with its Fans, who love and support
them, having free access to a platform where
Fans possess the power to validate, greenlight
and fund the entertainment they want to watch.
Together with Serialify, an interactive story mobile
app, both companies will introduce us to the
new decentralized tools being used to generate,
finance and otherwise monetize content in a
concerted effort between Fans, Creators and
Investors.
Participants
Orlando Pedregosa: VP International at
Filmio and Co-founder at Babieka Films
David Álvarez Tejeda: Chief Content
Officer at Serialify
Moderator
Jordi Sánchez-Navarro: associate
professor and Dean of the Faculty
of Information and Communication
Sciences, Universitat Oberta de
Catalunya (UOC). Coordinator of the
Learning, Media and Entertainment
Resarch Group (GAME).

Co-organizing entities
 VIDEO GAME AND CINEMA
Technology, video games and fantasy cinema

Program description
Program that unites technology and videogames to
the world of fantasy genre cinema.
CATALONIA: THE GREAT VIDEOGAME STUDIO IN EUROPE
Activity description
One of the most distinctive characteristics of the
human being is his continuous and unstoppable
desire to escape to imaginary worlds where
everything is possible. For millennia, we have
expressed this desire using all the means that
the technology of each moment has allowed
us: paintings, sculptures, music, theatrical
performances, books and, more recently, all
kinds of audiovisual and interactive formats.
Each of these means has offered us the
sensation of being transported to alternative
fantastic universes that evade us for a time from
our reality.
Today, Catalan video game companies are
helping hundreds of millions of people around
the world to dream and live experiences beyond
imagination. Some of its main managers share
in this panel the keys to their work and discuss
how the expansion of their sector can be an
opportunity for the creative development of
professionals from other fields of culture in
Catalonia.
Participants
Sonia Linares: Chief Operating Officer of Paradox Tinto
José Luis Vaello: Art Director at Piccolo Studio
Gador Valls: Project coordinator at Unisoft Barcelona
Emmanuel Márquez: Co-founder of Limitless Games

Moderator / Presenter
Berta Fola: Journalist

Co-organizing entities
 SITGES COCOON SCREENINGS
Technology documentaries presented at the 54th edition of the Festival
A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX (USA, 2021)

Director
Synopsis
Rodney Ascher
What if we are living in a simulation and
the world as we know it isn’t real? Rodney Original language
Ascher uses a speech by Philip K. Dick to take
a plunge down the rabbit hole of science, English
philosophy and conspiracy theory. Exploring Duration
the unprovable, the f ilm uses interviews
with real people cloaked in digital avatars 108 min
and a wide range of voices, both expert and
amateur. Section
Sitges Documenta

Screenings
October, 14th:
11 a. m. – Tramuntana Melià Sitges
3 p. m. – Prado
Trailer
USERS (USA, 2021)

Director
Synopsis Natalia Almada
What if the technology we use on a day-
to-day basis ends up changing us forever? Original language
Featuring a music score by Kronos Quartet, English
spectacular images reminiscent of the
fascinating Koyaanisqatsi and a cross between Duration
documentary and dystopian science f iction,
Users questions the impact of technology on 81 min
the planet and on humanity. The f ilm landed Section
Natalia Almada the Best Documentary
Directing Award at Sundance. Sitges Documenta

Screenings
October, 9th:
11:15 a. m. – Tramuntana Melià Sitges
October, 11th:
3:45 p. m. – Prado
Trailer
 OTHER REALITIES
COCOON PRESENTS
NFT CREATIONS
VIDEO GAME AND CINEMA
SITGES COCOON SCREENINGS