Asia's largest AI film festival is accepting short films and music tracks for a Tokyo screening this October, with entry from $29
AI Film Festival Japan 2026 runs 31 Oct to 2 Nov at Tokyo Innovation Base, awarding Best AI Movie, Animation, Creative and Music categories plus sponsored prizes from CapCut and ElevenLabs.
Asia's largest AI film festival, now in its second edition, returns to Tokyo Innovation Base from 31 October to 2 November 2026. The AI Film Festival Japan (AIFJ) 2026, run by AI FILM JAPAN inc., accepts work from filmmakers and musicians of any nationality or age, provided under-18 entrants have parental consent in place. Every official selection is screened live in Tokyo, meaning a submission here is a genuine path to a public theatrical premiere in Japan.
The regular submission window closed on 10 September, but a late deadline remains open until 30 September 2026 at 12:00 JST. That gives creators roughly three weeks to finalise and submit. Entry is paid, starting from $29 via Festhome standard tier, with FilmFreeway tiers varying in price, so check both platforms before submitting to find the rate that suits your project.
What you submit
Film entries must be between 90 seconds and 15 minutes long and completed on or after 1 January 2026. The festival accepts short fiction, animation, experimental work and hybrid forms. AI music entries, competing in the Film Score and Vocal Track categories, must be 60 seconds to 5 minutes in duration and scored to an official visual asset provided by the organisers. Any AI tools are permitted, including Midjourney, Veo, Runway, Kling, Suno and Udio, but disclosure of which tools were used is mandatory for every entry. Entries for the CapCut AI Creative Award must use CapCut AI specifically.
Prize structure
The festival awards five main categories: Best AI Movie, Best AI Animation, Best AI Creative (experimental and hybrid work), Best AI Film Score and Best AI Vocal Track. Two sponsored prizes sit alongside these. The CapCut AI Creative Award offers a one-year CapCut Pro subscription, 50,000 AI credits and a dedicated presentation slot in Tokyo. ElevenLabs also sponsors a separate award, though the specific ElevenLabs prize details are not itemised on the listing. All official selections are screened live at Tokyo Innovation Base across the three festival days.
Note that the headline prizes in the main categories are described as awards rather than cash. The CapCut prize is clearly credits and software access, not money. If cash is important to you, verify the full prize details on the FilmFreeway submission page before paying an entry fee.
Terms worth reading
Entry is not free: fees start at $29 and vary by platform and submission tier, so factor this into your decision. The festival requires mandatory disclosure of all AI tools used, which is a creator-friendly transparency rule rather than an onerous condition. The listing does not specify a broad IP or rights-grab clause, but the official rules on FilmFreeway should be read carefully before submitting, particularly regarding screening rights for selected films. The page does not publish a cutoff time for the late deadline beyond 12:00 JST on 30 September, so submit at least a full day in advance to avoid platform processing delays.
Submissions open on FilmFreeway and Festhome. The tracker page on AI Film Contests is updated daily and is a useful place to monitor any rule changes before the deadline closes.
Source: AI Film Festival Japan (AIFJ) 2026 on AI Film Contests