The closing three-day program of the Astana Film Festival on Artificial Intelligence (AAIFF 2026) – an international competition for films created using artificial intelligence – opened in Astana. A total of 25 works reached the final from 8067 applications submitted from 125 countries. The festival's total fund amounts to 2 million US dollars.
The first day of the event was dedicated to a private screening of the competition films. Audiences were presented with works by creators from countries such as the United States, Canada, Italy, South Korea, China, and Kazakhstan.
The competition program covers 19 genres and was created using more than 80 generative artificial intelligence models. The total running time of all presented works exceeded 100,000 minutes.
The total amount of funds for the Astana Film Festival on Artificial Intelligence reaches 2 million US dollars. Of this sum, 1 million dollars is allocated for awarding winners. These funds are provided by the corporate fund Freedom Shapagat under Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Tyurlov is the source of these funds.
Another 1 million dollars is designated as investment capital for promising teams working in the field of artificial intelligence. The goal of these funds is to support the development of film production and the AI ecosystem in Kazakhstan. The investor is entrepreneur and venture capitalist Balaji Srinivasan, who previously served as CTO at Coinbase and worked as a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). He is also the founder of The Network School.
The finalists will be judged by an international jury comprising representatives from the film industry, academic circles, and technology companies. The jury includes former Director-General of UNESCO and former French Minister of Culture Audrey Azoulay, Ma Pin, Dean of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Research at China Film Group, Wang Hao, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Animation at Beijing Film Academy, Balaji Srinivasan, and Li Lun, General Manager of BytePlus for the Middle East, Africa, India, Turkey, and CIS markets.
The private screening allowed the audience to see how artificial intelligence is transforming approaches to filmmaking. Special attention was paid to the possibilities offered by new technologies in visual effects, imagery, and storytelling. One viewer told UzDaily correspondent that the festival clearly demonstrates new prospects for using AI in cinematography.
This viewer noted: 'It is interesting to see how many opportunities artificial intelligence opens up for film production. Some works impress with their visual effects, while others stand out for their originality and unusual approach to storytelling. At the same time, it is important to me that behind the technological solutions there is an interesting story and emotions capable of reaching the audience. I think such festivals help show how cinema is changing and what prospects open up for creators.'
The final events take place from October 1 to 3 as part of AI Month and the international technology conference AI & Digital Bridge 2026. After the private screening, the competition films will be available to the general public. On October 2 and 3, the final films will be shown on the big screen at the Chaplin cinema located in the MEGA Silk Way shopping and entertainment center. Tickets can be purchased through Kino.kz and Freedom SuperApp. Winners will be announced on October 3, the last day of the festival.
Freedom Holding Corp. serves as the main partner of the Astana Film Festival on Artificial Intelligence, The Network School is the technology partner, and the Kazakh online service Kino.kz is also a partner of the event. The festival brings together filmmakers, AI developers, and investors, demonstrating new possibilities for applying artificial intelligence to create audiovisual content and develop creative industries.