Questions & Answers
Submit through FilmFreeway. Submissions open June 16, 2026. Upload your film or a streaming link, disclose the AI tools you used, and pick your category.
Entry is free for all filmmakers through the Regular Deadline of September 30, 2026, and always free for Africa-based and Student & Emerging filmmakers. A small $5–$10 fee applies only to late submissions for non-African entrants.
Generative AI must be central to the film's creation — used to create or augment video, animation, imagery, voice, music, or script. A film that only used AI for minor color correction does not qualify.
Each film must have an African connection: the lead filmmaker is of African or African-diaspora heritage, OR the film centers African stories, languages, history or culture, OR it is an African collaboration. Entrants must be 18+, or enter the Student & Emerging category with guardian consent.
AI Short Film (1–10 min), AI Animation (1–10 min), AI Documentary (5–20 min), and Student & Emerging Filmmaker (1–10 min). A film may be entered in one category.
The inaugural African AI Film Festival is a fully online event taking place November 21–22, 2026. Selections are announced in early November 2026.
Yes. Previously screened or released films are welcome in Year One, as long as they were completed on or after January 1, 2024.
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