International AI film festival final kicks off in Astana
The three-day final of the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026), an international competition for films created using artificial intelligence, has opened in Astana, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The festival opened with a closed screening of films by creators from the United States, Canada, Italy, South Korea, China and Kazakhstan.
Held under the theme “The Future Worth Living In,” the festival selected 25 works for the final program from more than 8,000 submissions by creators from 125 countries. Works by two Kazakh authors are among the finalists.
The competition features films across 19 genres created using more than 80 generative AI models. The total running time of the submitted works exceeded 100,000 minutes.
According to AAIFF founder Aizatulla Hussein, the festival demonstrated that AI is already capable of transforming filmmaking, allowing creators from around the world to bring their own visions, ideas and storytelling approaches to the screen.
“The film industry will change thanks to technology, as everyone has their own vision, creative approach and concepts,” Hussein said.
International jury and $2 million fund
An international jury representing the film industry, academia, and technology will evaluate the finalists. Members include former UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, China Film Group AI Research Institute Dean Ma Ping, Beijing Film Academy Vice Dean Wang Hao, entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, and BytePlus General Manager for the Middle East and Africa, India, Türkiye and the CIS, Li Long.
The festival has a total fund of $2 million. Half will be awarded as prizes, while the remaining $1 million will be invested in promising AI teams. The investment was provided by entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, former Coinbase CTO, former general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and founder of The Network School.
The winners will be announced on October 3, the festival’s final day.
AAIFF 2026 runs from October 1 to 3 as part of AI Month and the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 technology conference in Astana.
The finalists’ films will be shown to the public on October 2 and 3 at Chaplin Cinema in the MEGA Silk Way shopping and entertainment center.
Organizers plan to make the festival an annual event.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026) became the world’s largest international competition dedicated to films created using artificial intelligence, attracting 8,067 entries from 125 countries.