Poland's On Art AI Film Festival is selecting 50 films for its Warsaw November finale, and submissions close 30 September 2026
On Art Festival opens its dedicated AI film section to filmmakers worldwide, selecting 40 short films and 10 medium or feature entries for a three-day Warsaw screening event in November.
Warsaw's On Art Festival has carved out a dedicated sub-section for AI filmmaking, and this year it is inviting submissions from creators around the world ahead of a three-day finale at Puławska 20 in November. The programme is built around curated screening slots, not an open-door showcase: a professional jury will hand-pick exactly 40 short films and 10 medium or feature-length entries from everything submitted, so the selection itself carries weight.
The festival sits within Poland's broader On Art Festival network, which gives selected films an audience beyond the Warsaw venue. A masterclass in AI video production runs alongside the screenings, and the programme includes panels aimed at working filmmakers rather than passive attendees. If your film makes the cut, you are placed in a context that treats generative tools as a serious creative discipline, not a novelty.
What to submit
Entries are accepted across fiction, animation, documentary, video art, and experimental forms. There is no restriction on which AI tools were used in production: the festival explicitly names Runway, Sora, Kling, Veo, Midjourney, Luma, and Pika as examples, but any generative AI tool is permitted. Professional and independent filmmakers from all countries are eligible. The categories tracked on the aggregator page include Short Film, Animation, Documentary, and Experimental.
Prize structure
The prize is a festival screening at the November 2026 Warsaw finale, professional jury recognition, and visibility across the On Art Festival network. There is no cash award listed on the official page. If you are evaluating this against opportunities that offer monetary prizes, note that the value here is curatorial: a selective jury, a physical venue, and placement within an established European festival context.
Entry fee and submission route
Fees are tiered and managed through FilmFreeway. The official page does not publish a fixed figure, so check the FilmFreeway listing directly for the current fee schedule before submitting. Entry is made through that same FilmFreeway page.
Terms worth reading
The page does not reproduce full festival terms, so review the FilmFreeway submission agreement and any On Art Festival rules linked from the entry form before uploading your work. Pay attention to screening rights: festivals typically request a non-exclusive licence to screen selected films during the event and in promotional materials. No broad rights transfer is disclosed on the aggregator page, but confirm the specifics on FilmFreeway. Entry fees paid through FilmFreeway are generally non-refundable regardless of selection outcome.
Deadline
Submissions close 30 September 2026. No cutoff time is published, so submit at least a day in advance to avoid any timezone ambiguity. The festival finale runs 15 November 2026 in Warsaw.
The official contest page is at aifilmcontests.com/contests/on-art-ai-warsaw-2026 and entries go through filmfreeway.com/OnAI.
Source: https://aifilmcontests.com/contests/on-art-ai-warsaw-2026