THE june 6 2026 FILM FESTIVAL
HOLLYWOOD, CA — The AI International Film Festival and AI International Music Video Festival return to Hollywood on Saturday, July 11 for AI International Film & Music Video Festival: The Hollywood Celebration, an intimate afternoon and evening of red carpet arrivals, world premieres, live filmmaker discussion, awards, expert insight, and international creative exchange.
Held at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory black-box theater, the event brings together filmmakers, music video creators, technologists, VIPs, and curious artists for a live celebration of AI-driven storytelling from around the world.
The July 11 Hollywood Celebration will feature 10 top international AI films and music videos selected from 250 submissions across 35 countries, including 4 world premieres never seen before. Films and music videos will screen one at a time, with live filmmaker Q&A and audience conversation throughout the program.
This edition will also include a live worldwide broadcast, with 16 international filmmakers joining live via Zoom from across the globe. Guests will experience red carpet arrivals, a welcome reception, an expert panel discussion with top AI filmmakers, an awards show with Audience Choice Voting, and an afterparty at Mel’s Drive-In Hollywood.
“Gute Nacht Berlin” - Wraithsbloom AI - United States - 2026 - 10 min
Gute Nacht Berlin is one of those films where the emotional truth overpowers the technical imperfections. The humanity at the center of the story is so sincere and emotionally vulnerable. The nonlinear editing and dreamlike fragmentation actually strengthen the emotional atmosphere, making the experience feel like memory, trauma, and longing dissolving together at the end of history itself. The film understands something important: cinema does not need technical perfection to move people. Sometimes emotional honesty is enough to carry everything.
“The Cosmic Access Liaison” - James William Cipriano - United States - 2026 - 9 min - United States
The Cosmic Access Liaison is a highly entertaining sci-fi adventure that succeeds because it fully commits to its own strange mythology and treats its absurdity with sincerity rather than irony. The film is visually rich, imaginative, and confidently written, creating a world that feels surprisingly believable despite its increasingly bizarre cosmic concepts. The mystery surrounding the mechanical creatures and their absent creators unfolds with genuine curiosity and momentum, allowing the audience to remain emotionally invested rather than simply overwhelmed by spectacle. The storytelling has a classic science-fiction spirit to it (discovery, obsession, existential wonder) and the pacing keeps the experience engaging throughout. A strong and enjoyable cinematic experience with real entertainment value.
“FREYA - The Old Boy” - ARTESS D. - 2026 - 14 min
FREYA – The Old Boy is a chaotic hybrid of war fantasy, music video, dystopian mythology, historical horror, and philosophical sci-fi centered around Freya as a symbolic fusion of artificial intelligence, humanity, love, vengeance, and salvation. The film throws an enormous amount onto the table — Nazi horror, divine intervention, AI mythology, brutal war imagery, emotional transformation, and surreal fantasy — yet somehow it remains strangely compelling rather than collapsing completely under its own ambition. Structurally, the film holds together better than expected, and there is a genuine confidence in the storytelling rhythm and transformation sequences that keeps the audience engaged even when the material becomes overwhelming or absurd. The brutality of the script and imagery gives the film an unsettling energy, while certain characters strongly echo familiar cinematic archetypes and existing actors, creating a strange déjà vu effect throughout. It is messy, excessive, and philosophically overloaded, but also undeniably interesting because it fully commits to its own madness rather than playing safe.*
“It Used To Be Different ” - Eike Swoboda - Germany - 2026 - 10 min
It Used to Be Different felt like one of those rare AI horror films that actually stays with you after it ends. From the haunting music to the eerie storytelling, the entire film created a world that felt unsettling, emotional, and strangely believable. The concept of ghosts, death, and the idea of reawakening the dead gave the film a dark but fascinating energy, making it feel much bigger than just a short horror piece. What made it stand out was how cinematic and immersive it felt — almost like watching the beginning of a future cult classic or major feature film. The atmosphere, visuals, and tension all worked together perfectly, proving how powerful AI filmmaking can become when paired with a strong vision and creative storytelling.
“Guardians of the Burrow” - Jodie Heenan - Australia - 2026 - 2 min
Guardians of the Burrow avoids the exhausting “look what AI can invent” approach and instead uses AI tools to recreate and patiently observe something that genuinely exists. The documentary discipline is noticeable in the restrained camera work, pacing, and structure. Rather than constantly showing off impossible shots or morphing imagery, the film trusts stillness, texture, and observation in a way that resembles traditional nature filmmaking. The narration and visual consistency are particularly strong, and the choice to focus on a real biological relationship gives the project authenticity and educational value that many AI-generated shorts lack. Quietly one of the more mature uses of AI filmmaking in the competition.
“The Swamp” - Kristan Akerman - United Kingdom - 2026 - 4 min
The Swamp is a haunting and beautifully constructed work that successfully transforms fragmented archival material into something emotionally alive and cinematically compelling. The film’s use of generative AI feels purposeful rather than decorative, serving the themes of memory, disappearance, reconstruction, and artistic legacy with remarkable sensitivity. Its atmosphere is immersive, the suspense quietly effective, and the temporal blending between past and present gives the piece a genuinely uncanny emotional texture. Particularly striking is the resurrection of the younger self through archival reference material, which could have easily become gimmicky but instead feels melancholic and deeply human. A distinctive and sophisticated work that demonstrates how AI tools can meaningfully expand cinematic storytelling rather than simply imitate it.
“Le Drip” - Alex Naghavi, Ezra Li - United States - 2026 - 5 min
Le Drip is a visually rich and unexpectedly elegant animated short that transforms a strange and darkly humorous premise into something emotionally textured and artistically memorable. Told through painterly imagery and filled with carefully crafted detail, the film demonstrates a strong sense of aesthetic control, rhythm, and tonal confidence. The French voice performance adds an additional layer of charm and irony, elevating both the absurdity and quiet tragedy of the fish’s perspective. Beneath the playful surface, the film subtly touches on themes of mortality, dignity, and surrender, creating an emotional ambiguity that lingers after the film ends. A refined and stylistically cohesive short, with clear attention paid not only to visuals, but to atmosphere, pacing, and emotional texture.