HKAIIFF · 2026
Hong Kong AI International Film Festival
The Hong Kong AI International Film Festival is a Hong Kong platform for AI-native moving-image work, international competition and exchange between filmmakers and technologists.
- Focus
- AI film and moving image
HKAIIFF
2026
About the festival
HKAIIFF defines its programme around AI-native cinema and evaluates AI participation across writing, direction, generation, editing, sound and post-production.
Results & selections
Results & selections
- The Harbour Remembers Twice
Unicorn Gold Award
The Harbour Remembers Twice
Tideglass Narrative Collective; directed by Lau Tsz-ching - A River in Borrowed Weather
Best Generative Cinema
A River in Borrowed Weather
Silt Lantern Motion House; directed by Qiao Muran - Everyone Chooses the Fire
Best Interactive Narrative
Everyone Chooses the Fire
Civic Ember Narrative Lab; directed by Tessa Valejo - Season Without a Last Day
Best Procedural System
Season Without a Last Day
Equatorial Loop Research Lab; directed by Nadira Koh - Hikari Logs Out
Best Digital Being
Hikari Logs Out
Lattice Kite Character House; directed by Sae Kirino - Glaze Before Lightning
Best AI Visual
Glaze Before Lightning
Pale Kiln Screenworks · Generative Image Unit; directed by Shen Yiqiao - Frequencies for an Empty Room
Best AI Sound
Frequencies for an Empty Room
Resonance Underfloor Lab; directed by Im Seo-ryeong - The Orchard Kept Every Draft
Best AI Storytelling
The Orchard Kept Every Draft
Atelier Ronce Claire; directed by Éloane Bréval - Second Body, First Breath
Best AI Performance
Second Body, First Breath
Second Pulse Performance Works; directed by Jeong Yu-ri - The Bureau of Small Storms
Best AI Worldbuilding
The Bureau of Small Storms
Paper Weather Animation House; directed by Riku Aonuma - Two People Film a Century
Best AI Workflow Innovation
Two People Film a Century
Daylight Pair Cinema; directed by Luo Yimeng and Gao Zhiwei - The Last Honest Frame
Best Human-AI Collaboration
The Last Honest Frame
True Splice Restoration Atelier; directed by Elian Rowe - The Face That Withdrew
Responsible AI Award
The Face That Withdrew
Klarraum Media Ethics Lab; directed by Anke Riedel - Salt Census
Social Impact Award
Salt Census
Tidal Salt Commons; directed by Ira Devkar - The City That Rehearses Tomorrow
Future Vision Award
The City That Rehearses Tomorrow
Future Courtyard Cinema; directed by Rima Al Suwaidi - The Build Stayed Awake
Open Source Contribution
The Build Stayed Awake
Common Night Render Foundation; directed by Nia Holloway - Blue Roof, Red Earth
Emerging Filmmaker
Blue Roof, Red Earth
Iara Montez - Roommates in the Render Queue
Best Student Film
Roommates in the Render Queue
Harbour Dormitory Film Unit; directed by Cheng Pui-yan - The Monsoon Arcade
Cross-Industry Innovation
The Monsoon Arcade
Rain Cabinet Games · Cinema Cell; directed by Ploy Sutham
Entry criteria
2026 submission and evaluation standard
Works must be original, rights-cleared, completed on or after 1 January 2026, receive their world premiere at the festival and exceed a holistic 51% AI-participation threshold. Category-specific AI-dominance ranges also apply.
Judging
- Writing
- Direction
- Generative production
- Editing
- Sound
- Finishing and post-production
Submissions pass technical and ethical screening, a four-dimension professional matrix review, then screening, oral defence and ethics deliberation.
Official rules