AI filmmakers can win award laurels across six categories at an intimate Manhattan screening evening this November

Manhattan is hosting a dedicated awards evening for generative AI cinema, and the submission window is open right now. Cre8ive NYC, led by Festival Director Iwona Rydz, is running the AI New York Awards, an in-person gathering that treats AI filmmaking as a distinct creative discipline worthy of its own spotlight rather than a subcategory bolted onto a conventional festival programme. The event takes place on 30 November 2026, with films screening and laurels handed out across six separate categories.

The contest sits at a moment when AI-generated short films are proliferating rapidly but curated physical venues for them remain scarce. An intimate Manhattan evening aimed specifically at this form gives entrants something beyond a digital badge: a room, an audience, and a city with genuine industry density. Whether you have made a two-minute music video or a 25-minute narrative piece, the format accommodates a wide span of ambition.

What you submit

Films must run between 30 seconds and 25 minutes. AI tools must play a meaningful role in the production, though the page specifies no single approved toolset. Any AI tools are permitted, which keeps the field open to creators working across image generation, video synthesis, audio AI, and hybrid pipelines. The categories available are short film, music video, and commercial, with laurels awarded across six total category groupings.

One firm restriction: deepfakes or realistic likenesses of real people are barred unless the subject has provided written consent. That is a clear ethical baseline worth noting if your work involves recognisable faces or voice cloning.

Prize structure

The prize is award laurels, meaning official recognition and physical or digital laureate credentials from the festival. No cash prize is stated on the official page. Entrants should enter with that expectation clearly in mind. The value here is accreditation, an in-person New York screening, and the programme association rather than a financial return.

Entry fee and route

Submissions are handled through FilmFreeway at filmfreeway.com/ainyfestival. The official page lists the entry fee as "See FilmFreeway," meaning tiers and amounts are set on the FilmFreeway platform itself and may vary by submission date or category. Check there directly before submitting, as FilmFreeway festivals commonly charge higher fees for later submission tiers.

Submissions opened on 2 August 2026. The deadline is 15 November 2026. No cutoff time is published, so submit at least a day early to avoid any last-minute platform issues.

Terms worth reading

The page does not detail a formal rights or licensing clause, which means the FilmFreeway submission agreement and any festival-specific terms attached to the official entry form govern what the organisers can do with your film. Before submitting, read those documents carefully, particularly any clauses covering screening rights, promotional use of clips, and whether submission constitutes permission to use stills in festival marketing. The deepfake consent rule is the only creator-restriction explicitly stated on the contest page itself.

FilmFreeway is a well-established submission platform, and its standard terms are publicly available, but individual festivals can append their own conditions. Confirm the full terms on the official entry page before uploading your file.

The festival date is 30 November 2026 in New York, NY. Apply via the official FilmFreeway entry page.

Source: https://aifilmcontests.com/contests/ai-new-york-awards-2026