Italian Producer Unveils AI-Directed Film

In a week marked by discussions on AI actors, Italian producer Andrea Iervolino has introduced what he claims to be the first film directed by a virtual entity. Known for his work on 'Ferrari' and 'To The Bone', Iervolino announced 'The Sweet Idleness', directed by FellinAI, an AI designed to celebrate the poetic and dreamlike language of European cinema.

FellinAI operates under the Andrea Iervolino Company AI division, with Iervolino serving as the 'human-in-the-loop' to supervise and guide the technology. 'The Sweet Idleness' envisions a future where only 1% of humanity works, transforming labor into a symbolic ritual, while the rest enjoy leisure provided by machines. The narrative describes the 'last workers' as the final masks of humanity resisting the insolence of labor.

The film's cast is provided by Iervolino's agency Actor+, which collaborates with real actors to create digital likenesses for FellinAI's use. Iervolino emphasized that this project is not intended to replace traditional cinema, but rather to unite human sensitivity with AI's creative power to tell unprecedented stories.

The introduction of the AI director comes amid a debate over AI actress Tilly Norwood, created by actor-technologist Eline Van der Velden, which has sparked backlash from the acting community. SAG-AFTRA has stated that creativity should remain human-centered and opposes the replacement of human performers by synthetic entities.