FILM SCREENING & ARTIST TALK
With Sina Ataeian Dena and Silke Botsch
Moderated by Prof. Nina Fischer, Experimental Film and Media Art, Art and Media (KuM), UdK Berlin
21 January 2026, 6:00–9:00 PM
Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK)
Aula, Medienhaus, Grunewaldstr. 2–5, 10823 Berlin
The venue was wheelchair accessible.
The UdK Filminstitut hosted the film screening and artist talk AI and Fiction on 21 January 2026 as part of Transmediale Vorspiel 2026. The event brought together filmmaker and multimedia artist Sina Ataeian Dena and editor and filmmaker Silke Botsch for an evening exploring the uses of artificial intelligence in media art, with a particular focus on autobiographical approaches to AI-based filmmaking.
The screening and conversation addressed emerging forms of image-making and storytelling through artificial intelligence, while opening up questions around authorship, autobiography, fiction, and the relationship between human experience and machine-generated images. Through their distinct artistic practices, Ataeian Dena and Botsch reflected on the possibilities and challenges of working with AI as a creative medium and production tool.
Sina Ataeian Dena (*1983 in Ahvaz, Iran) is an Iranian-German filmmaker and multimedia artist whose practice encompasses animation, video installation, documentary, and narrative cinema. His work frequently addresses social and political subjects through experimental and hybrid forms. His films and installations have been presented and awarded at numerous international film festivals and art venues.
Silke Botsch (*1967 in Berlin) is a Berlin-based editor and filmmaker whose practice combines narrative editing, visual experimentation, and emerging AI-based production methods. Alongside her work as a commercial director, she has worked as a first editor on fiction, animation, and documentary films presented at international festivals including the Berlinale Forum, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Sundance, Cannes, Locarno, Annecy, the Munich Film Festival, and Visions du Réel. In 2025, she created her first fully AI-generated film, a 63-minute production scheduled for release in 2026.
The event formed part of the Art and Media (KuM) Lectures and Artist Talks, a series hosted by the Filminstitut of the University of the Arts Berlin at Medienhaus. The series brings outstanding media artists and KuM alumni together to share their practices and to create spaces for exchange between contemporary artistic discourse and new film and media technologies.
Participants:
Sina Ataeian Dena / Filmmaker and multimedia artist
Silke Botsch / Editor and filmmaker
Moderated by Prof. Nina Fischer, Experimental Film and Media Art, Art and Media (KuM), Universität der Künste Berlin
