The Milan Machinima Festival (MMF) celebrates the pinnacle of machinima and filmmakers utilizing video game technologies, including prominent game engines such as Unity and Unreal. Held annually, the festival showcases game-based videos created by artists and practitioners at the intersection of video art, cinema, animation, and gaming.

Our festival prioritizes avant-garde machinima over vernacular forms, reflecting our commitment to promoting works that push the boundaries of creativity and innovation within the medium. Avant-garde machinima, with its emphasis on experimental techniques, unconventional narratives, and artistic exploration, aligns with our mission to showcase pioneering works that challenge traditional conventions and explore new frontiers in digital gaming and filmmaking.

Selected works are chosen for their cultural significance, artistic excellence, and innovative style by an international panel of jurors and dedicated curators. The festival’s selection exemplifies the diversity, ingenuity, and creativity inherent in game-based video practices.

We invite filmmakers and video artists who engage in the appropriation, repurposing, and remixing of video games to submit their work for consideration. All entries will be evaluated by an esteemed international panel of scholars, curators, and critics. The most groundbreaking submission will receive the Critics’ Award.

Curated screenings of selected machinima will be organized around various themes and presented in distinct sections. We are particularly interested in submissions that capture or highlight specific aspects of contemporary life — ranging from politics to art, violence to creativity, and technology to ideology — through the aesthetic perspectives of digital gaming.

Screenings of selected machinima will be curated around different themes and presented in various sections. We seek submissions that capture or highlight specific facets of contemporary life, from politics to art, from violence to creativity, and from technology to ideology, through the aesthetic lenses of digital gaming.