Spanish short 'Under the Lake' challenges AI at Tribeca with artisanal approach

Juan Carlos Mostaza's animated short film 'Under the Lake' made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, showcasing a deliberate rejection of artificial intelligence in favor of traditional craftsmanship. The 14-minute thriller, devoid of dialogue, features wireframe characters lacking facial expressions, a stylistic choice intended to engage the viewer's imagination in interpreting their emotions.

Mostaza explained his decision to explicitly state in the credits that no AI was used, stating, "Now there is a lot of audiovisual material made with artificial intelligence. And this work took time, we had to spend a lot of time doing it, Amy with the music and Pablo with the sound, so that there could be any suspicion that it could have been done with AI. That's why I wanted to make it clear." This emphasis on manual labor highlights the film's dedication to artisanal techniques.

The film marks the conclusion of a personal trilogy for Mostaza, following 'Broken Wire' (2006) and 'Down to the Wire' (2016), which also explored minimalist formal elements. However, 'Under the Lake' diverges by incorporating a Western tone with horror elements, a genre Mostaza finds conducive to silence and wide shots, citing the Coen brothers' 'No Country for Old Men' as a key influence. The absence of dialogue, he believes, preserves the ambiguity of the characters' thoughts and feelings, drawing inspiration from classic silent cinema and Steven Spielberg's visual storytelling.

The animation section at Tribeca, curated by Whoopi Goldberg, features a competitive field including Spike Lee. Mostaza acknowledged the high caliber of the competition, noting the intense level of talent present in all the short films.

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no se ha usado IA, que ha sido a pico y pala