AI Documentary Contests & Festivals

AIMA London 2026 – AI Movie Awards London

AIMA in collaboration with JD Media

AIMA jumps from Mallorca to the prestigious IET London for its first-ever UK edition — November 7–8, 2026. This edition expands AIMA beyond film into Art Image, Art Motion, Ads, and Music. Submissions run June 15 to October 10, 2026.

VISIONARIA — International Festival of AI Cinema & Creativity

Visionaria

First-year Rome festival for films where AI plays a significant creative or production role, screening across six award categories with talks, masterclasses and immersive installations.

TAIFF — Türkiye International AI Film Festival (3rd Edition)

Türkiye International AI Film Festival

Türkiye's flagship AI film festival returns to Istanbul's Atatürk Cultural Center for a 3rd edition — 2,000+ submissions from 100+ countries so far. Grand Prize for Best AI Film plus new craft awards for AI Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Composer, VFX and more. Free FilmFreeway submission. Deadline Nov 1, 2026; screening at Yeşilçam Cinema Dec 7–9, 2026.

WAIFF London 2026 — World AI Film Festival UK

World AI Film Festival (WAIFF) UK edition

The UK edition of the World AI Film Festival, held November 24, 2026 at Bloomsbury Big Top in London. Open to UK-based creators aged 13 and up across eight categories, from live-action shorts and features to vertical micro-series and 3D Worlds. From 11 winners, a jury selects 5 works to advance to the WAIFF Cannes 2027 Grand Finale, and one is named WAIFF London Grand Prix.

Cine Prague AI Film Festival 2026

Cine Prague AI Film Festival

International AI short film festival in Prague welcoming AI-generated, AI-assisted and traditional short films up to 5 minutes; finalists screen at Kino Edison with a $1,000 Grand Prix awarded December 1, 2026.

AI for the Future Festival — COP31 Edition 2026

AI for the Future — curator Lisa Russell

The fourth and final 2026 category of a festival that screens AI work inside United Nations convenings rather than a cinema. This round is aligned to COP31 and wants climate storytelling: resilience, ecological futures, biodiversity and just transitions. Film, photography, music and script all accepted. Deadline Nov 30, awards event Dec 15.

Jaipur International Film Festival — World AI Cinema Competition

Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF)

A dedicated AI competition within the 19th Jaipur International Film Festival, open to AI-driven and AI-assisted storytelling across all formats, genres and languages.

AI Slop Film Festival 2027 (Season 2)

AI Slop Film Festival

Toronto-area festival that treats AI as a creative force in all its moods, welcoming polished AI films, hybrid productions, meme edits and deliberately chaotic experiments alike. Season 2 screens at Rumiversal Studio in Markham on 23 January 2027.

Berlin AI Film Festival (2nd Edition)

Berlin AI Film Festival

Second edition of the Berlin AI film festival accepting both 100% AI-generated films and hybrid works with meaningful AI integration. Low entry fees ($10–$40 depending on deadline tier). Event February 16–17, 2027.

Runway Hundred Film Fund

Runway

Rolling grant fund offering $5K–$1M+ per project plus up to $2M in Runway credits. Decisions within ~14 days.

WAIFF Africa — Abidjan 2027

World AI Film Festival (WAIFF) / Institut EuropIA

Pan-African regional edition of the World AI Film Festival based in Abidjan, open to creators from ten Francophone West/Central African countries; the five jury-selected films advance to the WAIFF Cannes 2027 Road to Cannes Selection.

Hollywood AI Short Film Awards (HASFA) 2027

Hollywood AI Short Film Awards

Second season of the Hollywood AI Short Film Awards, honouring films that make meaningful creative use of AI across development, production, post, animation, visual design and audio. The 2027 ceremony runs during Super Bowl Weekend at the London West Hollywood Screening Room on 13 February 2027.

WAIFF Los Angeles 2026 — World AI Film Festival USA

World AI Film Festival (WAIFF) / Institut EuropIA

Hollywood's biggest AI cinema moment of 2026. The U.S. edition of the World AI Film Festival lands in Los Angeles in late March 2027, and the top five films advance to the WAIFF Cannes 2027 Grand Finale at the Palais des Festivals. Nine categories — Live Action Short, Feature, Animated, Doc, Vertical/Mobile, Music Video, Ad, AR/VR/XR, Gaming. Submit before the LA cut-off and your film could be on a Cannes red carpet at WAIFF Cannes 2027.

Horizons IA 2027 — Punta del Este, Uruguay

Horizons IA

International AI short film festival in Punta del Este, Uruguay, judging fiction/documentary, experimental/music video, and advertising shorts where AI use is central and decisive; free-admission screening event in May 2027.

Seoul International AI Film Festival (SIAFF) 2027 — 6th Edition

Seoul International AI Film Festival

Sixth edition of Seoul's AI film festival, with an awards ceremony, screening and gala on 30 May 2027 at the enTravel Cultural Complex in Gangnam, followed by a director–audience talk on 31 May. Around eighteen award categories cover AI film, music video, animation, screenplay, sound design and visual effects.

Sin Cámara — Festival de Cortos IA en Español (2nd Edition)

Aplimedia, S.L.

Second edition of a Spanish-language AI short film festival for creators in Spain and Latin America. Shorts run 30 seconds to 3 minutes, entry is free, and public voting picks the finalists.

London AI Independent

London AI Independent (Sirlute Studios, Canary Wharf)

New London festival for independent films where AI contributes meaningfully but does not have to dominate the finished work. Rolling monthly deadlines from October 2, 2026 to June 2, 2027, a first screening and director Q&A at Sirlute Studios on October 4, 2026, and the main event on June 19, 2027. Studio-financed films are not eligible.

Chroma Awards — Season 2

Chroma Awards (incubated by ElevenLabs)

Season 2 of the ElevenLabs-incubated AI film and media competition (founded 2023 as Project Odyssey). The official site says Season 2 launches in mid-October 2026 with six divisions: Film, Advertising, Music Video, Song, Game and Behind-the-Scenes, across 51 categories. Deadline, prize pool and entry fee had not been published as of October 7, 2026. Season 1 drew 6,500+ entries and paid over $175,000 in cash plus $1M+ in tool credits.

AI for Good Film Festival 2027

ITU / UN AI for Good

The UN's AI for Good Film Festival returns for 2027: 1-10 minute films where AI is a core part of the filmmaking, completed between September 1, 2026 and May 1, 2027. Finalists are invited to the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva (June 21-25, 2027) with a speaker pass and a public premiere screening.