AI Film Festivals in New York 2026-2027: Four Open Calls and When Each Closes

The AI for the Future Festival, which programs AI work around United Nations events, takes its last 2026 entries on November 30. In 2027, NYC Indie Cinema and AI screens in Brooklyn on June 16 (final call June 2), and the AI Cinema Festival NYC runs July 16 to 18 at the New York Hilton Midtown (deadline June 20). None of the four publishes a cash prize. We read each festival's official site or FilmFreeway listing on October 26. Runway's AI Festival, the best-known AI film event that screens in New York, is closed until its next cycle.

Why New York matters for AI film

New York already has the biggest AI film screening of the year. Runway's AI Festival showed its ten 2026 finalists at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center on June 11, then repeated the program at The Broad Stage in Los Angeles on June 18. The $50,000 Grand Prix went to Robert Gaudette of Canada for A Face Only A Mother Could Love, the same short that later won first place at the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice.

Tribeca is the other New York signal. In 2024 the festival and OpenAI commissioned five filmmakers to make Sora Shorts, which screened on June 15, 2024, per Tribeca's press release. On June 10, 2026, Tribeca premiered Dreams of Violets, a 75-minute fully AI-generated drama from brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha of the studio Fountain 0. Their Business Wire release put the cost under $2,000; trade coverage listed Kling AI for video, Claude for language editing and Gemini for research and images. Criterion's festival report ran under the headline "AI Is Here."

Tribeca has no AI competition and no open call for AI work, and Runway is closed. If you want your film in a New York room in the next nine months, the four calls below are the way in.

AI New York Awards: closes November 15

The AI New York Awards is a small awards evening at Cre8ive NYC, a studio at 134 West 29th Street in Manhattan, on November 30, 2026. Festival director Iwona Rydz says on FilmFreeway that the room is kept small on purpose. Entries opened August 2 and ran through four cheaper deadlines (Light, Work Hard, Hurry Up and Late, the last on October 25). The Extended deadline on November 15 is the final one, and notifications go out November 22. FilmFreeway did not show fee amounts to a signed-out visitor, so check the price at checkout.

There are six awards: Best AI Film, Best AI Director, Best AI Music Video & Commercial, Best AI Sound & Music, Best AI Prompt & Workflow and Best AI Character Consistency. No cash prize is listed. The festival says it is especially hungry for music videos and commercials and will program a 90-second spec ad next to a 20-minute narrative.

The rules are specific. Runtime is 30 seconds to 25 minutes. You must attach a three-to-four-sentence process note describing what AI did in the film. Deepfakes of real people need written consent. Every collaborator and every tool that mattered must be credited. Each creator or team gets one submission per cycle. The festival also warns against generated images cut to a song, calling that "a mood board with a soundtrack." One line in the rules mentions a screening on July 31, which conflicts with the November 30 event date on the same listing; it looks like leftover text, but ask the festival before you rely on it.

AI for the Future Festival: COP31 round closes November 30

AI for the Future is curated by Lisa Russell, whom the FilmFreeway listing describes as an Emmy-winning filmmaker and UN arts curator. Its 2026 program has four categories, each tied to a United Nations convening: the Commission on the Status of Women in March, the High-Level Political Forum in July, the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC in September, and COP31 in November and December. Only the COP31 round is still open.

COP31 themes are climate storytelling, resilience, ecological futures, biodiversity, just transitions and nature-based narratives. The festival takes film and video, photography and art, music, and scripts. Work can be fully AI-generated, partly AI-assisted, or made without AI if it fits the themes. The November deadline is November 30, and notifications and the awards event both fall on December 15, listed as an online event. Selected work can also get a Human Rights Day spotlight on December 10.

There is no cash prize. Selected artists get laurels for their category, eligibility for showcase slots around UN events, and visibility with UN agencies, NGOs and delegates. The FilmFreeway page is marked as a non-public listing, so use the direct link from our contest page rather than searching FilmFreeway for it. If you have a climate short or documentary, this is the most on-theme home for it in New York this year.

NYC Indie Cinema and AI: final call June 2, 2027

NYC Indie Cinema and AI held its first screening on October 2, 2026 at The Tiger Room, 1186 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. The 2027 edition screens at the same venue on June 16, 2027, and submissions opened September 25. The deadline ladder is long: Earlybird #2 is today, October 26, then Regular on November 22 and December 19, Middle on January 16 and February 12, Late on March 11 and April 7, Extended on May 4 and the Final Call on June 2. Notifications go out June 8. Fee amounts were hidden from a signed-out visitor, so check each tier on FilmFreeway.

The festival pitches itself at independent filmmakers who get turned away from both the traditional indie circuit and the tech-demo AI circuit. Films must be made without studio financing. AI has to do real work somewhere in the film (generation, animation, effects, voice, sound, music, editing, writing or the concept), and the festival says it does not count percentages. Shorts run 40 minutes or less including credits, and the rules also accept features over 40 minutes. Non-English films need English subtitles. There is no premiere requirement, prior online release is fine, and you can enter as many films as you like, one submission each.

Seven awards are given on the night: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Use of AI, Best Visual Craft, Best Editing and Audience Choice. You do not have to attend to be selected or to win, and a review on the listing from a 2026 filmmaker says they won Best Screenplay without being in the room.

AI Cinema Festival NYC: deadline June 20, 2027

The AI Cinema Festival NYC is the largest of the four by format: three days of screenings, talks and awards from July 16 to 18, 2027 at the New York Hilton Midtown, 1335 Avenue of the Americas. The submission deadline is June 20, 2027. Entry fees are not listed on the official site.

It runs three tracks. Human + AI Cinema is for directors who use AI to extend a cinematic intention they already have. Full AI Film is for work generated mainly by AI systems. Future Format covers vertical video, immersive and interactive work, micro-shorts, trailers, fashion films, music videos, XR and experimental pieces. The five awards are the Grand Prix NYC, Best Human + AI Direction, Best AI Cinematography, the Responsible AI Cinema Award and the Audience Signal Award.

The same AI Cinema Festival brand runs city editions elsewhere. Cairo and Ottawa ran in 2026. Québec City closes January 24, 2027 and Cannes closes October 17, 2027. If you are building a festival run for one film, the New York date sits between those two.

What closed in 2026, and when to watch for 2027

Several New York calls have already closed this year, and most will likely return.

Runway's AI Festival took free entries from January 28 to April 27, 2026, with a pool of more than $135,000. Runway has not announced 2027 dates. If it keeps this year's calendar, expect entries to open around late January.

The Lumara Film Festival, backed by MoonPay and Venice, offered a $32,000 cash Grand Prize, closed on September 15 and screens its nominees at a New York premiere. Its first season drew more than 700 entries.

AI Talents New York, a screening night in East Harlem, closed September 29 and screened on October 18 with laurels in 13 craft categories and no cash.

AI for the Future's July and September rounds screened around the High-Level Political Forum and UN General Assembly week.

The Artiver AI Art Awards, run by a New York platform for AI artists, now shows entries closed on FilmFreeway. Its listed prize examples were up to $2,000 for a Master Award and up to $500 for category awards.

Outside the city, the We Are Human Festival in Paris tours its selected films to New York, São Paulo, Johannesburg and Geneva, though its 2026 call closed September 30.

Which New York festival fits your film

If you have a finished music video or spec commercial, enter the AI New York Awards before November 15. It is the only New York festival with a category built for that work, and the notification comes back in a week.

If your film is about climate, ecology or a just transition, the AI for the Future COP31 round is the obvious fit, and it takes scripts and photography as well as film.

If you made an independent short with a real story, NYC Indie Cinema and AI judges the film rather than the tools, and its ten deadlines give you until June to finish. Enter as early as you can, because the fee for each tier is only visible at checkout.

If you are planning a bigger festival run in 2027, the AI Cinema Festival NYC gives you a three-day event in Midtown and a Responsible AI award that rewards consent and disclosure.

None of the four pays cash. If prize money matters, look at the AKOOL AI Film Challenge (free, $50,000 Grand Prize, closes December 20) or the Chroma Awards Season 2 ($450,000+ in cash and travel perks, closes January 7, 2027), then use the New York festivals for screenings and laurels.

Whichever you pick, write the disclosure first. Three of the four ask what AI did in your film, and the AI New York Awards wants it in a short note. Name the tools you used for each stage, whether that was Runway, Sora, Veo, Kling, Midjourney, ElevenLabs or Suno, and say what you did by hand. A clear note is easier for a programmer to trust than a vague one.