Venice Doc ‘Be Brave’ Is a Bold AI Experiment in Film Festivals

The ongoing AI debate in Hollywood has largely unfolded in courtrooms, union discussions, and awards-season deliberations. However, Venice is set to explore a more direct approach: an entire feature film created almost entirely using AI technology. Italian director Francesco Carrozzini is bringing his latest project to the festival’s out-of-competition lineup this fall, generating excitement for reasons that extend beyond its subject matter.

The focus of this documentary is Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel and chairman of the OTB Group, whose remarkable rise in the fashion industry has made him an intriguing subject for a documentary. What sets this particular film apart is that Carrozzini did not film his subject at all.

The 85-minute film, titled ‘Be Brave’, recreates Rosso at various stages of his life using AI instead of traditional documentary footage. Carrozzini explained to Variety that this decision stemmed partly from a lack of intimate archival material featuring Rosso, prompting the team to create those scenes from scratch rather than working around the absence.

As the project developed, it transformed into something more ambitious than a simple workaround. The film is fully scripted, centered around the idea of Carrozzini searching for Rosso, who continually eludes him. This structure ultimately became the film’s central theme rather than just a narrative device.

Carrozzini has been careful to clarify the film’s intent. He stated that ‘Be Brave’ is not intended as a broad commentary on artificial intelligence but rather a focused exploration of how the technology interacts with storytelling and entertainment. “The human has to come first,” he said, emphasizing that this is the key message he aimed to convey by the film’s conclusion.

Behind the polished final product was, according to Carrozzini, a genuinely challenging production process. Achieving a convincing AI-generated likeness of Rosso required matching his voice, appearance, and wardrobe to specific moments in his life, along with the more complex task of replicating believable behavior rather than just accurate visuals. The project was backed by the Rome-based production company Our Films, a Mediawan company, alongside producers Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani, and Gabriele Immirzi, with Blackstone also involved.

Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera has described the film’s inclusion as a deliberate provocation, encouraging filmmakers to consider how AI might enhance creative possibilities rather than merely replace traditional production methods. This positions ‘Be Brave’ among the first AI-driven features to debut at a major international film festival, arriving at a time when the industry is still grappling with its feelings about the technology.

‘Be Brave’ also marks Carrozzini’s third appearance at the Venice Lido. He previously premiered ‘Franca: Chaos and Creation’, a documentary about his late mother and former Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani, and returned in 2022 with his narrative feature debut, ‘The Hanging Sun’, which closed that year’s festival. The rapid advancement of AI technology has made this latest project a moving target throughout production, with Carrozzini acknowledging that techniques employed early in the process often became outdated by the time later scenes were completed.

Whether ‘Be Brave’ emerges as a genuine creative breakthrough or a cautionary tale regarding AI’s limitations in filmmaking will likely depend on the response from Venice audiences when the festival commences in September. Regardless, it is poised to be one of the most closely observed entries on this year’s lineup.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!