Valencia's FESTIAV AI film festival offers €5,250 in prizes across five categories and a 24-hour lab challenge, with entries closing 4 October 2026
FESTIAV 2026 returns to Valencia for its second edition, accepting AI-made shorts up to 15 minutes across Fiction, Historical, Comedy, Horror and Valencian-language categories for €2,250 in awards plus a separate €3,000 lab prize.
Valencia's Festival Internacional de Cine con IA returns for its second edition this October, hosted by Galaxia Televisión, S.L. and running 26–30 October 2026 at physical screenings and an awards ceremony in the city. The festival accepts short films made wholly or partly with artificial intelligence tools, with no restriction on which models or pipelines a filmmaker uses, and it welcomes entries from anywhere in the world.
The prize pot is split across two tracks. The main competition distributes €2,250 across five category awards, while a separate 24-hour filmmaking sprint called FESTIAV LAB carries its own €3,000 prize for the winner of that intensive challenge. Together the two tracks put €5,250 on the table, which makes FESTIAV one of the larger cash-prize events specifically targeting AI-generated cinema in Europe this year.
What to submit
Films must be formatted in horizontal 16:9 at a minimum resolution of 1920×1080 and a minimum frame rate of 24 fps. The maximum running time is 15 minutes including credits; the organisers recommend a minimum of 3 minutes. Work must have been produced after 1 January 2025. Any AI tools are permitted, and films using AI only partially also qualify. Entries are submitted through the Festhome platform via the official festival site at www.festiav.com.
The five competitive categories are:
- Best Fiction AI — €1,000
- Best Historical AI — €500
- Best Comedy AI — €250
- Best Horror AI — €250
- Best Valencian AI (Valencian-language films) — €250
The FESTIAV LAB 24-hour challenge is a separate track; its specific format and submission route are described on the official site.
Prize structure
All prizes listed are cash awards in euros. The main competition total is €2,250, with Best Fiction AI carrying the largest single award at €1,000. The FESTIAV LAB winner receives €3,000 independently of the main competition, so a filmmaker could in principle enter both tracks.
Entry fee
There is an entry fee. The standard rate is €5, but the fee rises to up to €20 depending on how late in the submission window you apply. Submitting early keeps the cost at the lower end of that range.
Terms worth reading
The page does not reproduce the full terms and conditions, so prospective entrants should review the rules published on festiav.com before submitting. Pay particular attention to any licensing or screening rights the festival requests for selected films, which is standard for festival submissions but worth confirming. The international eligibility is clearly stated, as is the permissive approach to AI tooling, which is creator-friendly compared with festivals that restrict specific models.
Deadline and logistics
The submission deadline is 4 October 2026 at 23:59 GMT+1. Given the escalating fee structure, submitting before the final days will both save money and reduce last-minute platform risk. The festival itself runs 26–30 October 2026 in Valencia, Spain, with screenings and a live awards ceremony.
Full entry details and the Festhome submission portal are accessible through the official site at www.festiav.com.
Source: FESTIAV 2026 on AI Film Contests