A Madrid festival will screen your AI film and costs six euros to enter
IA Play in Madrid takes AI-made films up to 40 minutes for a €6 fee, with €1,200 in prizes and a gala screening on 20 March 2027. Entries close on 1 January 2027.
Most film festivals charge enough to enter that a rejection stings twice. The IA Play International Film Festival in Madrid charges six euros, or €5.52 if you use the Festhome Play discount, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to put an AI-assisted film in front of a European jury.
The festival is built around films that use AI on purpose, not as a gimmick bolted on afterwards. The gala screening is listed as 20 March 2027 at Cine Artistic Metropol in Madrid, and entries close on 1 January 2027. With today's date being 15 October 2026, that leaves a little under eleven weeks to finish a cut, check it against the rules and submit.
What you submit
The festival accepts worldwide filmmakers, creators and digital artists. Your film must have been completed in January 2023 or later, run to a maximum of 40 minutes, and incorporate AI intentionally and creatively. The page states that any AI tool is allowed, so you are not tied to a particular model or platform.
The organiser describes four sections: 100% AI fiction, animation, hybrid narrative and web series. The tracker listing also tags documentary, experimental and animation, so if your film sits between categories, check how the festival classifies it on the entry page before paying.
One firm condition: the film must not have been submitted to other festivals before. If your work has already done the rounds, it does not qualify.
Entries go through Festhome, and you can apply on the official Festhome entry page. Submissions opened on 17 July 2026.
Prize structure
The total prize pool is €1,200, and the page lists these awards:
- Jury Award: €250
- Audience Award: €150
- Grand Finale Jury Award: €500
The page also mentions additional category recognitions, though it does not say what they consist of. The three named awards add up to €900, so the remainder of the pool is presumably attached to those extra recognitions, but that is an inference, not something the page confirms. Treat the €1,200 figure as the headline and the named awards as the ones you can count on.
These are cash prizes, not credits or software subscriptions. They are modest by competition standards, and the real draw is the screening slot and the low cost of trying.
Terms worth reading
The entry fee is €6, or €5.52 with the Festhome Play discount. That is a genuine cost, if a small one, so do not assume entry is free.
The page does not publish rights terms, licence wording or any statement about who owns the work. That is not a sign of a rights grab, but it does mean you should read the festival's full rules on the Festhome page before submitting, particularly anything about screening licences, promotional use of clips and public listing of your film.
There is also a date discrepancy to be aware of. The listing gives the gala screening as 20 March 2027, while a separate field on the same page gives the festival date as 1 March 2027. The organiser's entry page should settle which applies, and it is worth checking if you plan to travel.
No cutoff time or timezone is published for the 1 January 2027 deadline. Given that it falls on a public holiday, submit with at least a day in hand rather than leaving it to New Year's Day.
Full details are on the official contest listing, and entries are made through Festhome.
Source: IA Play International Film Festival Madrid on AI Film Contests