Memor.IA - Emma goes to Spain - Directors Cut

Emma Goes to Spain - by Paola Rocchetti & Frankie Caradonna (May 2025)

"Emma Goes to Spain" is a short film born from a real event: a teenage girl with Down syndrome was excluded from a school trip. This fragment of lived experience became the starting point for a narrative that does not seek to fix the past, but to unlock what already exists within Emma, a fierce sense of justice, radical empathy, and unapologetic emotional clarity.

The project blends documentary truth with visual poetry. We shaped a hybrid language, suspended between realism and magical realism. Our goal was never to build a world on Emma, but to free the world that’s already inside her.

The film evolves from quiet realism into a surreal, lyrical space where Emma claims her own version of events. A vision not of fiction, but of possible truth.

Sound is not a score, it is an emotional architecture. Emma’s real voice, taken from her interview, serves as the backbone of the piece. Her words drive every visual, every cut, every note.

The final AI-generated film was revealed to Emma in a studio environment using a large immersive LED screen, surrounding her with the reimagined scenario, letting her feel how things could have gone differently. It was a powerful, emotional moment.

The final film "Memor.IA" is built on a hybrid structure that combines interviews, visual storytelling, and AI to reconstruct significant memories and moments that were once constrained by stereotypes or lack of freedom.

CREDITS
Produced by Indiana Production, directed by Niccolò Maria Pagani, agency GB22.

AI Directors:
Emma Orlandoni story by Paola Rocchetti & Frankie Caradonna
Bryan Ceotto story by Guido Callegari
Simone Gambirasio story by Carlo De Togni
Rossella Chirulli story by Francesco Siro Brigiano