Astana AI Film Festival: Can one filmmaker replace a studio?
Nikolay Shestak had never visited New York when he made a film set there. He built the city, cast his family and gave his characters American voices. His 20-minute film, The First Honest Day, won the grand prix in Astana, Qazinform News Agency reports.
“I’m telling a story about an America I’ve only seen in movies,” said Shestak, talking to Na Grani podcast host Tatyana Moiseeva.
At the festival, Shestak asked two Americans if they could tell a foreigner had made the film. He said New York looked convincing to them. A few lines of dialogue gave him away. They understood what the characters meant but would have said it differently.
What if your face changed to reflect how you treated people?
In the film, people wake up one morning to find their faces changing. How they treat others now shows on their faces. Fearing another pandemic, people put on masks. Scientists debate the cause. Viewers follow a TV anchor as she tries to piece together what happened.
Shestak wanted to explore those first few hours. He worked through the everyday details with an AI model. How do you unlock your phone when it stops recognizing your face? How do you get through passport control?
What does the director decide?
Shestak started each shot with a still image. He chose the camera angle and lighting, then decided what would move. A car passes in the background. A woman with an umbrella walks past the lens. He reused the same audio sample to keep each character’s voice consistent across shots.
“We work on it together, but I make the final decisions,” he said.
For the final shot, Shestak tried several AI-generated children’s faces. Then he realized where he’d seen the expression he wanted. He cast his nephew. His mother also appears in the film, and Shestak plays the lead character’s lover.
Shestak estimates he spent about €5,000 on subscriptions and generating new versions of shots. At first, he wanted to shelve the finished film.
“When I finished it, I thought it was complete nonsense,” he said.
Family and friends saw it first. Their feedback convinced Shestak to submit the film to Astana AI Film Festival. He said the festival received more than 8,000 entries from 126 countries. The jury awarded The First Honest Day the grand prix.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported on Shestak’s move from acting to directing. He said he began experimenting with AI filmmaking two years before his win in Astana.
