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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider AI is making its way into film festivals

AI is making its way into film festivals

Published May 28, 2026 11:37 pm
A still from 'Dreams of Violets' / Foundation 0
A still from 'Dreams of Violets' / Foundation 0
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly made its presence felt in different aspects of our lives. Whether it be through virtual assistants, agentic AI, or an AI overview explaining a complex concept. AI is here, and it looks like it's not going anywhere.
It has even come knocking down the doors of prestigious film festivals such as the recently held Cannes Film Festival earlier in May, and the upcoming Tribeca Festival in June.
Already in its 76th year, the prestigious Cannes film festival made the announcement that emerging technology, i.e., AI, would not be allowed to be included in the Palme d’Or competition (the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Cannes film festival), saying that “AI imitates very well, but it will never feel deep emotions.”
Meta at Cannes
However, a number of upstart AI companies, along with their tech-backers, made their presence known throughout the festival. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was even a festival sponsor. This allowed the company to promote its platforms and innovations in AI and wearable technologies during the festival.
Steven Soderbergh, director of films like Erin Brockovich, the Ocean’s (Eleven) franchise, and Black Bag, debuted his latest work, a documentary: “John Lennon: The Last Interview” as a special screening. Soderbergh utilized Meta’s AI tools to create visuals that accompanied John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s abstract ideas, drawn from their final radio interview.
A fever dream
The 75-minute docudrama “Dreams of Violets,” inspired by the January protests in Iran, will make its debut at the Tribeca Festival in June, drawing on journalistic reports, photographs, and eyewitness accounts. The film was created by AI startup Fountain 0, led by the creators, brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha, who were born in Iran and left the country in 2009. The brothers developed the entire feature-length project from their London home in just three months.
“Dreams of Violets” was completed on a budget of only $ 2,000.00, using AI tools such as Google Gemini, Claude AI, and Kling AI.
“I understand that an AI-generated film about people who actually died raises difficult questions. But the alternative, silence, forgetting, the regime’s preferred outcome, is worse,” Ash Koosha said.
As for the Oscars, to be eligible in the acting categories, only roles: “demonstrably performed by humans with their consent” are eligible for nominations. Whereas for screenplays, they “must be human-authored” to qualify. In other words, no AI in the Oscars, well, for now.
Watch the trailer for "Dreams of Violets" here. 

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