From October 1 to 3, Astana will host the Astana AI Film Festival, an international event showcasing films created with artificial intelligence. The competition received 8,067 submissions from 125 countries, with the largest number of submissions coming from the United States, followed by Kazakhstan. The festival features a total prize and investment fund of $2 million.
The Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026) will be held as part of the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in Kazakhstan and will be an integral part of AI & Digital Bridge 2026—the flagship event of AI MONTH. For three days, Astana will bring together festival finalists, international jury members, and global partners, while the competition films will be screened for the public on the big screen free of charge.
Submissions for AAIFF 2026 are now closed. According to organizers Almas Zhali and Aizatulla Hussein, entries were received from 125 countries.
The top 10 countries by number of submissions include the United States, Kazakhstan, India, China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, and France. Kazakhstani creators submitted 829 entries, ranking second overall. The competition features both emerging creators and established AI content creators with audiences ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of followers.
“Receiving 8,067 submissions from 125 countries demonstrates that AI filmmaking has evolved from an experiment into a fully-fledged industry with its own creators and teams. Since this industry currently lacks established infrastructure, we aim to build it right here in Kazakhstan. That is why we have integrated investment capital alongside the prize pool: winning teams will register local legal entities, become Astana Hub residents, and continue their production from Kazakhstan. In doing so, we are building a complete AI production ecosystem around the festival,” said Almas Zhali, Founder and Chairman of the Board of AAIFF.
Competition Structure
Participants submitted short films with a minimum duration of three minutes. A key requirement was the fully AI-driven format, with artificial intelligence serving as the core component of the creative and production process. All submitted entries undergo mandatory plagiarism screening.
The theme of the main competition program is “The Future Worth Living In.” The prize pool for this category totals $750,000, with the Grand Prix winner receiving $450,000, while the second- and third-place winners will receive $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.
An additional $250,000 is allocated to the Open Section. Five winners will each receive $50,000 in the following categories: Best Character, Best Directing, Best Visual Language, Best Story, and Best Concept.
The second half of the total fund—$1 million—is designated for investment in the strongest teams from the competition program. The investment capital was provided by Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase, former General Partner at venture capital firm a16z, and Founder of The Network School.
Teams will be selected based on the quality of the submitted works, the level of their execution, and their potential in AI production. Investment recipients will register legal entities in Kazakhstan and become Astana Hub participants.
Thus, AAIFF is designed not only as a film competition. Its goal is to help promising teams continue their work, attract international expertise to Kazakhstan, and lay the foundation for the development of the AI production market.
Who Will Join the International Jury
Former Director-General of UNESCO and former Minister of Culture of France Audrey Azoulay, Dean of the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute at China Film Group Ma Ping, Deputy Dean of the Animation School at the Beijing Film Academy Wang Hao, Balaji Srinivasan, and a representative of BytePlus have confirmed their participation on the jury.
BytePlus—the B2B division of ByteDance Corporation—is the festival’s technology partner. ByteDance is known as the creator of TikTok and CapCut and the developer of the Seedance generative video model. As part of the partnership, 25 finalists will receive a one-year subscription to the DRAMAGIC content generation platform with a package of 60,000 credits.
Where to Watch the Competition Films
AAIFF will be presented at AI & Digital Bridge 2026 with a dedicated booth and business program. The festival will become part of Creative Bridge—a track exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on cinema, music, visual art, media, fashion, and storytelling. The festival program is available on the official AAIFF page.
Screenings of the competition films will begin on October 1 at Chaplin Cinema. Admission is free with a ticket booked in advance. The festival program will also include an opening ceremony and a gala dinner with an awards ceremony for the winners. The competition results will be announced on October 3 at AI & Digital Bridge 2026.
AI & Digital Bridge 2026 will bring together more than 20,000 participants and over 100 technology companies. Key headliners of the forum include Yerzat Dulat, Co-Founder of Higgsfield AI, and Balaji Srinivasan, Founder of The Network School.
Visitors can also expect business sessions, a technology exhibition, Startup Alley, the Astana Hub Battle finals, the AI & Digital Bridge Awards, demonstrations of AI solutions and robotics, as well as creative industry projects and GameDev.
On October 1, a special high-level program will be held for heads of government agencies, international delegations, and leaders of the technology industry. Attendance on this day is by invitation only. On October 2–3, the forum will be open to ticket holders.
AI & Digital Bridge 2026 is made possible through the support of the forum’s partners and sponsors. All forum expenses are covered by sponsorship funds. Gold Partners are Freedom Bank, Kaspi.kz, and Samruk-Kazyna JSC. Silver Partner is Halyk Bank. Transformation Partner is Beeline Kazakhstan. Digital Partner is BI Group. Official Airline Partner is Air Astana.
From October 1 to 3, Astana will host the Astana AI Film Festival, an international event showcasing films created with artificial intelligence. The competition received 8,067 submissions from 125 countries, with the largest number of submissions coming from the United States, followed by Kazakhstan. The festival features a total prize and investment fund of $2 million.
The Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026) will be held as part of the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in Kazakhstan and will be an integral part of AI & Digital Bridge 2026—the flagship event of AI MONTH. For three days, Astana will bring together festival finalists, international jury members, and global partners, while the competition films will be screened for the public on the big screen free of charge.
Submissions for AAIFF 2026 are now closed. According to organizers Almas Zhali and Aizatulla Hussein, entries were received from 125 countries.
The top 10 countries by number of submissions include the United States, Kazakhstan, India, China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, and France. Kazakhstani creators submitted 829 entries, ranking second overall. The competition features both emerging creators and established AI content creators with audiences ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of followers.
“Receiving 8,067 submissions from 125 countries demonstrates that AI filmmaking has evolved from an experiment into a fully-fledged industry with its own creators and teams. Since this industry currently lacks established infrastructure, we aim to build it right here in Kazakhstan. That is why we have integrated investment capital alongside the prize pool: winning teams will register local legal entities, become Astana Hub residents, and continue their production from Kazakhstan. In doing so, we are building a complete AI production ecosystem around the festival,” said Almas Zhali, Founder and Chairman of the Board of AAIFF.
Competition Structure
Participants submitted short films with a minimum duration of three minutes. A key requirement was the fully AI-driven format, with artificial intelligence serving as the core component of the creative and production process. All submitted entries undergo mandatory plagiarism screening.
The theme of the main competition program is “The Future Worth Living In.” The prize pool for this category totals $750,000, with the Grand Prix winner receiving $450,000, while the second- and third-place winners will receive $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.
An additional $250,000 is allocated to the Open Section. Five winners will each receive $50,000 in the following categories: Best Character, Best Directing, Best Visual Language, Best Story, and Best Concept.
The second half of the total fund—$1 million—is designated for investment in the strongest teams from the competition program. The investment capital was provided by Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase, former General Partner at venture capital firm a16z, and Founder of The Network School.
Teams will be selected based on the quality of the submitted works, the level of their execution, and their potential in AI production. Investment recipients will register legal entities in Kazakhstan and become Astana Hub participants.
Thus, AAIFF is designed not only as a film competition. Its goal is to help promising teams continue their work, attract international expertise to Kazakhstan, and lay the foundation for the development of the AI production market.
Who Will Join the International Jury
Former Director-General of UNESCO and former Minister of Culture of France Audrey Azoulay, Dean of the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute at China Film Group Ma Ping, Deputy Dean of the Animation School at the Beijing Film Academy Wang Hao, Balaji Srinivasan, and a representative of BytePlus have confirmed their participation on the jury.
BytePlus—the B2B division of ByteDance Corporation—is the festival’s technology partner. ByteDance is known as the creator of TikTok and CapCut and the developer of the Seedance generative video model. As part of the partnership, 25 finalists will receive a one-year subscription to the DRAMAGIC content generation platform with a package of 60,000 credits.
Where to Watch the Competition Films
AAIFF will be presented at AI & Digital Bridge 2026 with a dedicated booth and business program. The festival will become part of Creative Bridge—a track exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on cinema, music, visual art, media, fashion, and storytelling. The festival program is available on the official AAIFF page.
Screenings of the competition films will begin on October 1 at Chaplin Cinema. Admission is free with a ticket booked in advance. The festival program will also include an opening ceremony and a gala dinner with an awards ceremony for the winners. The competition results will be announced on October 3 at AI & Digital Bridge 2026.
AI & Digital Bridge 2026 will bring together more than 20,000 participants and over 100 technology companies. Key headliners of the forum include Yerzat Dulat, Co-Founder of Higgsfield AI, and Balaji Srinivasan, Founder of The Network School.
Visitors can also expect business sessions, a technology exhibition, Startup Alley, the Astana Hub Battle finals, the AI & Digital Bridge Awards, demonstrations of AI solutions and robotics, as well as creative industry projects and GameDev.
On October 1, a special high-level program will be held for heads of government agencies, international delegations, and leaders of the technology industry. Attendance on this day is by invitation only. On October 2–3, the forum will be open to ticket holders.
AI & Digital Bridge 2026 is made possible through the support of the forum’s partners and sponsors. All forum expenses are covered by sponsorship funds. Gold Partners are Freedom Bank, Kaspi.kz, and Samruk-Kazyna JSC. Silver Partner is Halyk Bank. Transformation Partner is Beeline Kazakhstan. Digital Partner is BI Group. Official Airline Partner is Air Astana.
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