Kazakhstani flmmaker wins Best Character award at International AI Film Festival
Kazakh filmmaker Myrzakhan Zhumakhan has won the Best Character award at the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF) for his comedy It Was Just a Joke, in which an ordinary prank develops into a serious confrontation, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The winners were announced in Astana on October 3. The festival received 8,067 entries from 125 countries, with 25 films selected for the final competition. Zhumakhan’s film, created using artificial intelligence, was among the finalists.
The story centers on a dog and its owner’s brother. What begins as a simple joke gradually escalates into an all-out conflict.
“I work in the comedy genre. The film tells the story of how a dog and its owner’s brother start fighting because of a simple joke, and eventually it turns into a real war,” Zhumakhan said.
The filmmaker said he intended to make a lighthearted comedy. The story also reflects his personality and his fondness for pranks.
His film earned the Best Character award, one of five special categories at the festival. Other categories recognized the best story, visual language, direction and concept, with filmmakers from China, Italy, the United States and other countries among the winners.
Despite the comedic nature of his film, Zhumakhan said he was nervous about the competition, which brought together filmmakers with different ideas, styles and approaches to using artificial intelligence.
"To be honest, I was very nervous about the competition because there are so many talented and great people here. All the participants put a lot of work and time into their films, so in my opinion, every one of them was a worthy competitor,” he said.
The entries were evaluated by an international jury representing culture, filmmaking and the technology sector. The panel included Audrey Azoulay, former UNESCO Director-General and former French Culture Minister; Ma Ping, Dean of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Research at China Film Group; Wang Hao, Deputy Dean of the Animation Faculty at Beijing Film Academy; entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan; and Li Long, BytePlus General Manager for the Middle East, Africa, India, Türkiye and CIS region.
Zhumakhan’s comedy was therefore recognized by a jury bringing together expertise in cultural policy, film education, artificial intelligence and investment.
Festival organizers said that the most important aspect of AI filmmaking is not the technology itself, but the ideas that creators are able to bring to life with new tools.
“The most interesting thing about AI cinema today is not the technology itself, but what authors are beginning to create with it. At the festival, we saw very strong and completely different works — from unusual visual solutions to new ways of telling stories,” said Aizat Kussainov, co-founder and creative director of AAIFF.
The inaugural Astana AI Film Festival was held from October 1 to 3 as part of AI Month. Alongside the competition program, it featured business meetings and panel discussions involving filmmakers and representatives of the creative industries.
Finalist films were screened on the big screen at a cinema in Astana on October 2 and 3.
The festival’s total fund amounted to $2 million. Of this, $1 million was allocated as prize money for the winners, while another $1 million was earmarked for investment in promising AI teams and the development of AI film production in Kazakhstan.
Zhumakhan’s victory was one of the achievements of Kazakhstani creators at the international competition. His story, conceived as a light comedy, advanced through the selection process among thousands of entries and earned him the festival’s award for Best Character.
Earlier, Qazinform reported AAIFF 2026 winners shared stories behind their AI-generated films.
