A new achievement for Istituto Marangoni Milano Design in the fields of creative innovation and artificial intelligence. Emil Gasanov, who graduated in Visual Communication Design in September 2026, has won the Audience Award at MERGE Film Festival 2026, held in Switzerland from October 1 to 4, with his short film KIBAЛ / HOME.

Presented in the Hybrid category, dedicated to productions combining traditional footage and artificial intelligence, the film received the highest audience rating among 36 competing works.

The award recognises a project that demonstrates how generative technologies can become powerful tools for artistic expression, bringing memories to life and giving shape to deeply human stories.

KIBAЛ / HOME: A Journey Through Memory, Identity and Belonging

Originally from Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation located in the North Caucasus, Emil Gasanov drew inspiration from his own family history to explore the meaning of home, cultural roots and belonging.

The title KIBAЛ, meaning "home" in the Lezgi language, captures the central theme of the short film: the idea that home is not simply a physical place, but a collection of memories, relationships, traditions and emotions that remain with us even when we move away from our origins.

The project began with a VHS recording from 1998, preserving footage of Emil's parents' wedding. Through generative artificial intelligence, this family archive became the starting point for a visual narrative that moves between past and present.

By digitally reconstructing locations, atmospheres and symbolic elements, the young creative reinterpreted these memories, establishing a dialogue between authentic archival footage and artificially generated sequences.

The short film explores the emotional complexity of reconnecting with one's origins and the experience, familiar to those living between different cultures, of recognising oneself in places and traditions that can feel both familiar and distant.

Adding an even more personal dimension to the project is its dedication to Emil's late cousin, Ruslan Gasanov. Ruslan had expressed his wish to visit Europe with Emil, a journey they never had the opportunity to make together. By creating the film in Europe, Emil found a way to symbolically carry his cousin's memory with him, transforming the project into an act of remembrance and affection.

The Creative Process: When AI Brings Memories to Life

From a visual perspective, KIBAЛ / HOME emerges from the intersection of cinematic influences, cultural traditions and digital experimentation.

Emil drew inspiration from the filmmaking styles of Claire Denis, Sergei Parajanov and Sedaget Kerimova, developing an aesthetic in which symbolic imagery and evocative atmospheres accompany an intimate, personal narrative.

To create the AI-generated sequences, he used several artificial intelligence tools, including Flora, Higgsfield, Sora 2, Seedance and Nano Banana Pro, integrating them with the original footage of his parents' wedding.

The creative process also involved sound design developed using Flora, an original voice recording of his mother, and illustrations and animations personally created by the filmmaker using Procreate.

The result is a short film that goes beyond technological experimentation. Artificial intelligence is not used to replace the filmmaker's memory or artistic sensitivity, but to expand his expressive possibilities, making visible emotions and atmospheres that would otherwise remain preserved in personal memories and family archives.

From Milano Film Fest to MERGE Film Festival

The recognition received at MERGE Film Festival, a Swiss event dedicated to emerging approaches to audiovisual production and artificial intelligence, represents another milestone in Emil Gasanov's creative journey.

Held for the first time in 2026, the festival brought together works exploring the potential of emerging technologies in filmmaking, creating a space for dialogue between visual experimentation and new forms of storytelling.

KIBAЛ / HOME had already gained visibility through its selection for Milano Film Fest in June 2026 and as part of the collaboration between Istituto Marangoni Milano Design and RED-EYE, an international editorial platform dedicated to contemporary visual culture.

The project was among eight short films created by Visual Communication Design students during a masterclass directed by Ced Pakusevskij, director and art director, as part of the educational programme led by Paola Rolli, Programme Leader of the department.

The experience encouraged students to explore emerging audiovisual languages by combining filmmaking, animation, CGI and generative artificial intelligence, while keeping their individual creative vision at the heart of the process.

Technological Innovation and Human Sensitivity

For Istituto Marangoni Milano Design, Emil Gasanov's achievement is a concrete example of the value of an educational approach that combines advanced technological skills, artistic research, critical thinking and storytelling.

The project demonstrates how artificial intelligence can become an integral part of the creative process without replacing the role of the filmmaker, instead opening up new possibilities for interpreting reality, revisiting memories and giving shape to personal stories.

In an audiovisual landscape undergoing constant transformation, KIBAЛ / HOME reminds us that the future of visual communication depends not only on the technologies available, but above all on the sensitivity, cultural awareness and creative vision of those who use them to give meaning to images.