Dundalk lecturer’s AI-Glitched film premieres in LA

Dundalk IT Creative Media lecturer and Creative Arts Research Centre co-director Dr Kieran Nolan’s experimental AI movie 'Video Games That Don't Exist' will screen in Los Angeles, California as part of the 2025 Milan Machinima Festival's Game Engine Cinema programme on the 21st of March.

Machinima is a form of filmmaking that uses real-time computer graphics, typically from video games or virtual environments, to create animated films or videos. Video Games That Don't Exist brings together a selection of Dr Nolan’s recent AI machinima works with exclusive new material in a special edit for the festival. 

The movie explores AI, authorship, and game aesthetics. Using clips generated by OpenAI’s Sora, the piece embraces AI's unpredictability, turning glitches and deformities into creative elements. It reflects on the evolving relationship between human creativity and AI in digital art, blending elements of breakdancing, racing, and surreal YouTube culture.

The Milan Machinima Festival features an international selection of 31 machinima and game videos by 35 artists from 17 countries.

The festival unfolds online (March 17–23, 2025) and onsite in Los Angeles, California (March 20–21, 2025) across nine programmes, showcasing works that challenge storytelling conventions, repurpose game engines as cinematic tools, and interrogate the aesthetics and politics of virtual worlds. 

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Speaking about the event, Kieran Nolan said: 

“I'm honoured to have my short film screened as part of this 8th edition of the annual Milan Machinima Festival as it's an event that has always inspired my work. AI technologies are developing at a constant pace while redefining the boundaries between how we produce and consume animation, games and live motion video. Video Games That Don't Exist is an experiment in harnessing the artistic possibilities of AIs, while treating the glitchy imperfections and often surprising unpredictability of current AI platforms as an integral feature for creative exploration.”

You can find more details on Video Games That Don't Exist here: https://milanmachinimafestival.org/kieran-nolan and access the full Milan Machinima Festival MMXXV schedule and tickets sales at: https://milanmachinimafestival.org