NOUVELLE BUG
VOL. 5, REVINE LAGO, 18 – 29 AUG 2026
/ CALL FOR ENTRIES
> INTRO
Il Varco is pleased to announce the fifth edition of its avant-garde digital cinema residency. Ten days of intensive workshops in Revine Lago, from August 18 to 29th 2026, to explore the frontiers of the cinema of the future with the guidance of the most accomplished directors and scholars in the genre.
The aim of Nouvelle Bug is to show participating filmmakers the possibilities and paths that can be developed within graphics engines, artificial intelligence, and video games for the creation of experimental and auteur cinematographic poetics, familiarizing them with the techniques and following them in the development and shooting of a short film project.
It is possible to attend the workshop both online and offline. There are 15 offline spots and 25 online spots, open to directors from all over the world, without any limitation. We strive for parity in representation, so we will try to create an international and diverse space where different sensibilities can come together.
> DIGITAL AVANT-GARDE CINEMA
Today, human beings look more at the phone screen than at the sky: the desktop has become an involuntary cosmic horizon, a container that has engulfed in spite of many of the emotional, cognitive, and growth processes that lead us to be who we are.
The metaverse is nothing more than a space inhabited by our avatars -our accounts, 3-D characters, our digital simulacra- and, contrary to how it is advertised, it has existed for more than two decades.
Although it seems to be a world separate from us, beyond an otherness of its own, it can now be incorporated into cinema to tell closely about so many human feelings that in that world of simulacra seem to glow with a new aura.
The intrusion of artificial intelligence in our life seems to have confused even more the borders of the real and the fake, creating a world where the domain of images influences emotions more than ever.
To confront this new world, it is necessary to reshape the idea of intelligence, steering away from the concept of individual genius and talent that has its roots in Western culture, and trying to build a new collective, communal intelligence where we work together to stay relevant against the new conformisms.
The purpose of this workshop is to make a synthesis of all the aesthetic and expressive possibilities of this world and to put them into practice immediately to narrate the human condition and to explore new forms of cinema.
>TUTORS
/ MAIN TUTOR
ANDREA GATOPOULOS
Andrea Gatopoulos is an Italian and Greek director, producer, and distributor. A member of EFA, Berlinale Talents, Locarno Spring Academy, and TFL, he studied in workshops with W. Herzog, Radu Jude, and A. Weerasethakul. He has produced more than 120 short films which played in more than 600 festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno and Rotterdam. His films deal with virtual realities, disturbing valleys, anti-capitalism, and critiques of progressivism. “Happy New Year, Jim” (2022) was the first machinima film at Cannes, at the 54th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. In 2023, he presented “Eschaton Ad”, a film about the apocalyptic advent of AI, at Locarno. Later that year, he presented “A stranger quest” (2023), his first feature-length documentary about maps, at the Torino Film Festival. In 2024, his short film “The Eggregores’ Theory” opened the 39th Critics’ Week in Venice as the first AI film in Venice and was nominated for the EFA by ZINEBI and the 70th David di Donatello Awards, winning a special Nastro D’Argento for experimentation. His film in development, “The Hallucinations”, is being produced by Les Films du Worso, Fandango, Heretic and Il Varco, and won the CNC Prize at the 49. La Residence of Cannes, and the Prada Film Fund for development. Andrea will coordinate the project and accompany the films development throughout the workshop.
/ DEVELOPMENT TUTOR
ZHENIA KAZANKINA
Zhenia Kazankina is a director, screenwriter, and editor, born in Moscow, Russia, in 1996. She graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) and is currently based in Rome, Italy.
Her work explores themes of adaptation, attachment, and the search for belonging, often through the lens of feminine characters and perspectives. Unfolding in a collective dimension, her stories are rooted in metaphorical concepts and personal experience, and touched with elements of mystery and fable.
Her short films have screened at international festivals including Locarno Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, ZINEBI, True/False, and many others. She is an alumna of Locarno Filmmakers Academy, Spring Academy, and Reykjavík Talent Lab.
Zhenia will accompany the development of the projects together with Andrea.
/ VISITING LECTURERS
ISMAËL JOFFROY CHANDOUTIS
Ismaël is a filmmaker and artist who trained at Le Fresnoy and whose student films were screened in many festivals. A graduate of INSAS, LUCA School of Arts, and Le Fresnoy, He exhibits his work in major institutions, like Centre Pompidou in Paris, Pearl Art Museum in Shanghai and in the most prestigious festivals, from Venice Biennale to Cannes, Annecy, IDFA. Since 2022, Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis has been an associate artist at Centquatre-Paris. With Maalbeek, selected for the 59th edition of La Semaine de la Critique, he went further in his investigation of how identity, technology and the virtual world interact, by piecing together the images and sounds of the fragmented, traumatic memory of a victim of the 2015 Brussels terrorist attacks. He won the César 2022 for best Short Documentary.
TOTAL REFUSAL CREW
Total Refusal is a pseudo-marxist media guerilla focused on the artistic intervention and appropriation of mainstream video games. We upcycle video games in order to reveal the political apparatus beyond the glossy and hyperreal textures of this media. Their films have been selected in many festivals including Berlinale and Locarno and their artistic research has been featured worldwide in museums and art fairs. With “Hardly Working”, which premiered in Locarno, they won the European Film Award for Best Short Film.
GALA HERNANDEZ LOPEZ
Gala Hernández López is an artist, filmmaker, and researcher. Her interdisciplinary practice ranges from film production to video installations, performances, and publications, using these media as avenues for epistemological inquiry. Her work explores new forms of subjectivity shaped by computational capitalism. Her film La Mécanique des fluides (2022) is the first in a trilogy of films that reflects on processes of individuation in relation to algorithms and digital flows of data and capital. It won the César Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2024. “Here I am sitting in a Tin Can” had its world premiere at the Berlinale – Forum Expanded in February 2024, and “+10k” was presented at the Quinzaine des Cineastes in Cannes in 2025.
ARIANNA CASERTA
Born in Rome in 2001, Arianna Caserta is a writer and a film studies scholar whose research focuses on the hybridizations between moving images and internet culture, with a particular emphasis on identity and online self-narrations. Previously Staff Writer for i-D Italy, she has published excerpts of her research on 032c, Dazed, Institute of Network Cultures, Flash Art, NOT, Do Not Research and more. She is the author of Teen Nihil: cinema, adolescenza e nichilismo (Inactual, 2026), communications manager for the artist’s cinema festival Loop Barcelona, and curator at CAMPO26, the curatorial program by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin.
Arianna will hold a workshop on internet culture.
FRANCESCO D’ISA
Graduated in Philosophy, Francesco D’Isa is the author of essays and novels published by Hoepli, effequ, Tunué, Newton Compton, and Edizioni Tlon. Over the years, he has gained extensive experience as a theorist and popularizer in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and creativity, as well as a digital artist. H Recently, he published the illustrated “philosophy novel” Sunyata (Eris Edizioni) and The Algorithmic Revolution of Images (Sossella Editore, 2024). Editorial director of the cultural magazine L’Indiscreto, D’Isa writes and draws for various Italian and international magazines. His works are increasingly exhibited in shows both in Italy and abroad. He is currently a Philosophy professor at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute (Florence) and teaches Illustration and Contemporary Plastic Techniques at LABA Brescia. Francesco will hold a workshop on Artificial Intelligence Aesthetic.
/ PROGRAM
DAY 1 (18/08/2026): Meeting and presentation of participants and program
DAY 2 (19/08/2026): Introduction to Nouvelle Bug, Cyber-Cinema, cyber-realism, ethics, and methodologies. Workshop on the internet culture by Arianna Caserta.
DAY 3 (20/08/2026): Machinima Films and Masterclass with Total Refusal, film screenings and discussion
DAY 4 (21/08/2026): Artificial Intelligence and Masterclass with Francesco D’Isa, and Ismael Chandoutis. Film screenings and discussion.
DAY 5 (22/08/2026): Database Films and Masterclass with Gala Hernández López, film screenings and discussion
DAY 6 (23/08/2026): Pitching ideas and writing sessions
DAY 7 (24/08/2026): Pitching ideas and writing sessions
DAY 8 (25/08/2026): Filming and editing of films
DAY 9 (26/08/2026): Filming and editing of films
DAY 10 (27/08/2026): Filming and editing of films
DAY 11 (28/08/2026): Filming and editing of films, first screenings of the film
DAY 12 (29/08/2026): Screening of the first versions of the films and closing party
Program can be subjected to changes.
> ADMISSION CRITERIA AND TERMS OF PARTICIPATION
It is possible to attend the workshop both online and offline. There are 15 offline spots and 25 online spots, open to directors from all over the world, without any limitation. We strive for parity in representation, so we will try to create an international and diverse space where different sensibilities can come together.
The participation in the workshop upon selection is only possible after the payment of the participation fee.
> FEES
Offline workshop: eur 1189
The fee covers for the participation, access to all the masterclass and recordings, breakfast, coffee, drinks and snacks at the location. It does not cover travel and stay. We already have deals in place with hosts in Revine Lago and we will help with accomodation in either single, shared rooms, or shared housing. Meals are not included. There are 15 spots.
Online workshop: eur 489
The fee covers for the participation, access to all the masterclass and recordings from wherever you are in the world and takes place at the same time and with the same program of the offline workshop. There are 25 spots.
> LOCATION
The workshop takes place in Revine Lago, in the Salone Comunale, inside a deconsecrated church. There is plenty of room to hang out and work, tables, plugs, and nice scenery. After the workshop, Revine allows for a bath in the lake at walking distance for free, hiking roads and other countryside activities. The location doesn’t need a car and everything is at walkable distance, but with a car you can also enjoy the neighboring villages and the lively august atmosphere.
The workshop can also be attended online.
> CALENDAR
April 2nd, 2026: Call for entries opens
June 2nd, 2026: Call for entries closes
June 10th, 2026: Selection of the participants
August 18th to 29th: Nouvelle Bug Vol.5 workshop
November 2026: Selection of winning projects and awards ceremony
>AWARDS
In november 2026, the cuts of the short films from the workshop will be evaluated by partner festivals and distributors in an online award ceremony.
Current partners include:
/ MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL, the most important machinima film festival in the world directed by Matteo Bittanti, who will pick one film for their next edition;
/ LAGO FILM FESTIVAL, one of the most vibrant European film festivals now at its 21st edition, who will pick one film for their next edition;
/ TAFANO INDOCILI, one of the most interesting arthouse essay screenings in Milan, will pick one film for their next edition;
/ GARGANTUA FILM DISTRIBUTION, one of the most important European film distributions, winners of the 2026 EFA for Best European short film. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ GORRILLA FILM DISTRIBUTION, a rising italian arthouse and genre distribution. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ SAYONARA FILM, the oldest short film distribution still active in Europe and also production company. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ GIOIA FILM, an arthouse boutique distribution company founded by Simone Fiorentino. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ EARLYBIRD, an italian distribution company founded by Laura Catalano and Silvio Giannini, also producers with 8 production. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ ALLEGORIE, an italian distribution company founded by Andrea Trono and Matteo De Liberato, also producers with One Shot. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/ SOTTOPELLE, an international collective founded by Daniele Imani Nobar, Clarisse Dachy and Te-Gao Hong. They will award one film with a contract proposal;
/More festivals and distributors will be announced soon;
> COPYRIGHT AND IMAGE RIGHTS
The copyright of the images created will remain the property of the director. By registering, the director allows Il Varco to use the images in any publication (digital and / or paper) relating to the Nouvelle Bug Workshop. All participants are aware that any image created during the workshop can be used by Il Varco for marketing and promotional purposes directly linked to the Workshop. Il Varco guarantees that the author will always be quoted and credited in every publication. Il Varco declines all responsibility in the event of copyright infringement and / or unauthorized references to subjects filmed, including people, objects and organizations filmed within the developed shots.
> PRIVACY DISCLAIMER
Each candidate expressly authorizes Il Varco srls as well as its legal representative to process the personal data transmitted pursuant to Law 675/96 (“Privacy Law”) and subsequent amendments – Legislative Decree 196/2003 (Privacy Code), also for the purposes of inclusion in databases managed by the aforementioned person. Each participant in the competition grants Il Varco and its legal representative free of charge the rights to reproduce the works and texts issued for the prize, in order to create the catalog, any publication on the prize website and other forms of communication, promotion and activities of the organization. The organizers of the competition will have the right of final decision on everything that is not specified in this announcement. The organization reserves the right to make changes to the information contained in the announcement if necessary.