Filmmaker Ricardo Nauenberg Uses AI to Rebuild Lost Rio Neighborhoods

Multimedia artist Ricardo Nauenberg used artificial intelligence tools to reconstruct Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods that no longer exist for his film project Rota de Colisão. The work, which tells the story of a reunion between friends, is due for release soon on streaming platforms.

Nauenberg said the algorithms were applied mainly to rebuilding architectures that have vanished from the city's map, where the story is set. The technology also served the film's action sequences, allowing what he describes as adrenaline-driven scenes to be created with reduced risk for the film crew.

What does this change for the filmmaker's pipeline?

Plenty, at least in Nauenberg's case. AI isn't a one-off experiment here. He confirmed that the support of artificial intelligence will not be restricted to this film, and he is already developing two more period stories:

• Copacabana Palace — set in the 1950s.
• Paralax — set on the Araguaia river during the years of the guerrilla (the armed insurgency that unfolded in that Amazonian region in the late 1960s and early 1970s).

In these new productions, AI will take a central role in conceiving the sets. According to the artist, the tool addresses demands of logistics and setting, contributing to the development of the projects.

Why vanished architecture matters for period film

The mechanism is straightforward. Rota de Colisão is set in parts of Rio whose buildings and streetscapes have physically disappeared. Traditional filmmaking handles that problem with location scouting, studio builds or archival material — all slow and costly. Generative tools (software that produces images from textual or visual prompts) offer a different route: the lost urban fabric can be reconstructed digitally, then woven into the film's visual fabric.

The same logic applies to the action sequences. Scenes that would normally demand stunt work, rigs or dangerous practical effects can be generated or extended with AI, which is how Nauenberg reduced risk to his crew while keeping what he calls adrenaline on screen.

For Copacabana Palace, the appeal is obvious: a 1950s Rio that no longer looks the way it did. For Paralax, set during the Araguaia guerrilla years, the challenge doubles — the period setting sits in a remote region and a politically charged historical moment, making logistical demands that AI-assisted set conception can help absorb.

The debate the technology carries with it

The use of generative resources in cinema feeds an ongoing debate about the replacement of traditional processes by technology. Opinions split between those who see the tool as a threat and those who consider it a practical ally. Nauenberg's output now sits squarely inside that argument — three projects that lean on AI for sets, period atmosphere and action, made by a filmmaker who frames the technology as a response to concrete logistical needs rather than a novelty.

Whether streaming audiences notice the difference when Rota de Colisão drops will be the first real test of that position.