ASTANA – Astana is emerging as a platform for exploring how artificial intelligence could reshape the industry, with the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026) bringing AI-generated films from 125 countries to Kazakhstan. The festival received more than 8,000 applications with 25 selected for the final stage in Astana.
The AAIFF 2026 final program runs from Oct. 1-3 in Astana as part of AI Month and AI & Digital Bridge 2026. The finalists’ films are being screened publicly on Oct. 2-3, with the winners to be announced on Oct. 3.
Photo credit: Agibay Ayapbergenov
The festival seeks to become more than a film competition. They want to turn it into an annual international festival in Astana and develop a dedicated streaming platform Mooncast.ai for AI-generated films, allowing works that did not make the final selection to reach a wider audience.
Beyond traditional cinema
For AAIFF 2026 Co-Founder and Creative Director Aizatulla Hussein, the more important question is what AI can do to cinema itself.
“Everyone is trying to repeat traditional cinema with the help of AI, but it seems that AI technology allows you to find some other forms of cinema,” Hussein told The Astana Times.
He sees the current generation of AI films as an experimental stage. Rather than simply reproducing the production methods and visual language of traditional cinema, creators can use AI to explore new approaches to storytelling, visual design and filmmaking.
The festival’s thematic category, “The Future Worth Living In,” was designed as a response to another familiar pattern in cinema: the way Hollywood often portrays the future as a dangerous place.
AI makes filmmaking easier, but not simple
While AI technologies help to overcome some technical barriers to visual production, the organizers mention that technology alone does not guarantee a strong film.
Hussain noted that many of the strongest submissions came from creators who already had experience in traditional filmmaking, including cinematographers, editors and directors.
“It’s not difficult to generate,” he said, referring to the technical process of creating AI content. The challenge, he suggested, lies in using the technology to create a coherent and compelling film.
The economics of film production are also an important consideration. According to the creative director of AAIFF 2026, producing a short AI film can cost between $3,000 and $5,000. The films submitted to the festival generally range from five to 20 minutes.
It means that AI is changing the filmmaking process without necessarily eliminating the need for creative expertise.
After reviewing more than 8,000 submissions, the jury chose approximately 200 works. They also launched Mooncast.ai, a streaming platform being developed specifically for AI-generated films to present other works. This would give AI filmmakers a distribution channel beyond individual competitions and could help build an international audience for a new category of film.
