Pushing the Boundaries of Festival Design

For the third edition of the Maia International Film Festival (Maia IFF 2026), Dotgraf expanded its canvas. Beyond our signature branding applications, spanning from the official poster to urban street displays, we turned to moving images. This project marks our debut as “film directors”.

The challenge, presented by Festival Director and founder Gustavo Santos, was precise: to animate the festival lounge for the opening night reception. We anchored our concept on this year’s dominant color, yellow, drawing inspiration from the iconic trench coats of Theo Angelopoulos. The film tracks two characters in yellow trench coats traversing Maia, discovering the landscape, and seemingly searching for one another, though their paths never cross.

The final film was projected across roughly 30 paper spheres suspended in the lounge. This setup added texture to the projection, transforming the city’s urban geometry into dynamic, fragmented landscapes. Without explicitly using the festival logo, the film achieved its goal through pure color association, activating the reception space and serving as a striking backdrop for the guests.