New tools.
Human stories.
An Aotearoa New Zealand festival for storytellers working with generative tools. Two divisions — under 16, and open. We back the person with something to say, not the software they used to say it.
Technology should serve the storyteller, never replace them.
Every film in this festival begins with a person — an idea, a memory, a point of view. Generative tools can help that person finish the film without a crew, a studio or a budget. They cannot supply the reason to make it.
So we judge the way any festival judges: story, direction, craft, originality. What software was involved is disclosed, and then set aside.
We are an education-led festival. Alongside the screenings we run free workshops, school sessions and mentoring, because the point of these tools is that they put filmmaking within reach of people who were priced out of it.
Two divisions
Separate judging, separate awards, so a fifteen-year-old is never competing against a working director.
Rangatahi — Under 16
For students and young filmmakers. Free to enter, with a guardian or teacher co-signing the entry. Comes with workshop access and mentoring in the lead-up, and every entrant is credited by name.
Open
For everyone 16 and over — first-timers, students, working filmmakers. No prior credits required, and no restriction on which tools were used at any stage.
Everyone in Aotearoa has a story worth putting on a screen.
We particularly want entries from Māori and Pacific filmmakers, from migrant and refugee communities, and from schools outside the main centres. Films in te reo Māori and Pacific languages are welcome and will carry their own award.
Entry-fee waivers are available on request, for anyone, with no means testing and no explanation required.
On cultural material: generated depictions of moko, tūpuna, whānau or iwi-specific taonga require the permission of the people they belong to. Films that use such material without it will not be selected. Our cultural advisors are being appointed now and will be announced before entries open.
Key dates
Submissions open worldwide. Early-bird rate until 20 December.
Open division. Rangatahi entries close 7 March.
Filmmakers notified, full programme published.
Auckland — screenings and workshops Saturday, awards Sunday.
Be first to know when entries open.
Follow along, or write to us and we will send the call for entries the day it goes live.
Programme
Two divisions, judged separately. Within each division, films compete across the categories below. Every entry is watched in full by at least two programmers before it reaches the jury.
Rangatahi — Under 16
Free entry, guardian or teacher co-signs. Entries close 7 March 2027. Any film one minute or longer. Entrants get workshop access and mentoring before the deadline. Judged by a separate panel including teachers and young filmmakers.
Open — 16 and over
Entries close 14 February 2027. Any film one minute or longer — no upper limit. Open to first-time and experienced filmmakers alike, in Aotearoa and internationally.
Categories
Narrative Short
Fiction. A story with people in it, however it was made.
Documentary & True Stories
Real lives, histories and places — including work that reconstructs what no camera was there to film.
Animation
Fully generated or hybrid animation, any style.
Vertical Drama
9:16 short-form episodes made for mobile-first audiences.
Music Video & Experimental
Work driven by image, rhythm and form rather than plot.
Schools & Community
Films made by a class, a club or a community group rather than an individual.
What winners receive
Best Film — Open
Prize package announced with our founding partners, plus a development meeting with the festival’s production partners.
Best Film — Rangatahi
Prize package announced with our founding partners, plus equipment or software for the filmmaker’s school.
Te Reo Māori & Pacific Languages Award
Awarded to the strongest film told in te reo Māori or a Pacific language. Prize announced with our founding partners.
Audience Award
Voted by in-person and online audiences. Prize announced with our founding partners.
Workshops & schools programme
Free hands-on sessions during festival week, plus school visits in the months before entries close. No prior filmmaking experience, no equipment and no subscriptions required — everything runs on tools that are free to access.
Schools, kura and community groups can register interest at hello@aiffnz.com.
Official Selection
The selected films will be published here on 12 March 2027, with session times and ticket links.
Submit your film
Two divisions: Rangatahi (under 16, free to enter) and Open (16 and over). Any film one minute or longer, any genre. No restriction on which tools you used — only on rights and consent.
Check the rules
Confirm your film meets the length, completion-date and rights requirements for your category.
Upload a screener
A private Vimeo or YouTube link with password, plus a poster still and a short synopsis.
Pay and confirm
The entry fee is paid on submission. You will hear back within 5 working days.
Fees
Student and emerging-filmmaker discounts apply with proof of study.
Rules & eligibility
Back the first edition
Generative filmmaking went from experiment to industry in under three years, and the audience for it is forming right now. A first-edition partnership puts a brand at the front of that room while it is still small enough to own.
First mover, not one of thirty
Established festivals are adding an AI sidebar. This one is built for the form, so a partner is part of the founding story.
An audience that builds
Directors, studios, platforms and tool makers — people who adopt fast and tell everyone. Reach here compounds past the screening week.
Content you keep
Every partnership includes filmed assets — award moments, filmmaker interviews, behind the scenes — licensed for your own channels.
Partnership tiers
Presenting Partner
Category Partner
Supporting Partner
Festival Friend
Bespoke formats
Named prize or fund
Fund a prize in your own name — cash, production budget, or a development slot for the winning director.
Brand-integrated commission
Commission a short made for the festival with your product inside the story, produced by the festival's production team and premiered in the programme.
Industry programme
Host a masterclass, pitch session or panel under your name during festival week.
Touring programme
Carry the official selection to your own market or event after the festival closes, co-branded.
Let's talk.
Tell us what you are trying to reach and we will build the package around it.
Request the partnership deckJury & team
The jury scores on story, direction, craft and originality — with no separate weighting for which tools were used. Each division is judged by its own panel. Jury members are being appointed now and will be announced before entries open on 1 December 2026.
Jury
Jury President
Chairs the Open division panel.
Director
A working filmmaker, for direction and craft.
Producer
For story, structure and whether the film holds.
Platform / Critic
For how the film reads to an audience.
Festival team
Festival Director
Leads programming, partnerships and delivery of the first edition.
Head of Programming
Leads selection and the screening programme.
Festival Producer
Runs the festival weekend and the workshops programme.
NewBee AI Club
The festival is delivered in partnership with NewBee AI Club, an Aotearoa community of people building and experimenting with AI tools. NewBee supports the festival’s workshops and community programme, and helps connect entrants with people who can answer a technical question when they get stuck.
Contact
New Zealand