Prague's first international AI film festival is offering up to 1,000 USD in cash prizes for films made with artificial intelligence
PAIFF – Prague AI Film Festival holds its inaugural awards ceremony at Kino Lucerna on 28 November 2026, with prizes across feature, short, music video and audience categories.
A new festival dedicated entirely to AI-assisted filmmaking is taking shape in central Europe. PAIFF, the Prague AI Film Festival, will hold its inaugural edition on 28 November 2026 at the historic Kino Lucerna, bringing together filmmakers, jury members and industry guests for a full awards ceremony. The festival accepts submissions across three categories: feature film, short film and music video, and its organisers are explicit that artificial intelligence is treated as a creative tool rather than a replacement for human authorship.
The festival is run by Valentina Armandi, founder and festival director, under production company ARMANDI a.s., with festival operations handled by CENTRAL EUROPE AI s.r.o. The international jury includes Justin Hackney, co-founder of Wonder Studios and formerly creative director at ElevenLabs; Hungarian AI filmmaker Tamás Olajos, who holds creative partner status at both Runway and Dreamina; Czech composer Miloš Krkoška, known for numerous Czech and Slovak film scores; and stage designer Martin Hruška. Submissions are routed through the Festhome platform.
What to submit
Films must be created with the support of artificial intelligence. The festival accepts three formats:
- Feature Film (AI feature-length works)
- Short Film (AI short films)
- Music Video (AI music videos)
No minimum or maximum runtime is specified on the official page beyond the feature/short distinction. Submission is handled via Festhome at the official submission page.
Prize structure
All prizes are cash, paid in USD:
- Grand Prix (best AI film across all categories): 1,000 USD
- Best AI Feature Film: 300 USD
- Best AI Short Film: 300 USD
- Best AI Music Video: 300 USD
- Audience Award (selected by festival audience): 500 USD
Total prize pool across all awards is 2,400 USD. Winners are announced at the awards ceremony at Kino Lucerna on 28 November 2026.
Deadlines
- Early Bird: 10 September 2026 (passed)
- Standard: 15 September 2026 (passed)
- Late Deadline: 31 October 2026 (final submission deadline)
The current date is 27 September 2026, so the late deadline of 31 October 2026 remains open. No specific cutoff time is published for the late deadline; submit with a day in hand to be safe.
Terms worth reading
Entry fees are managed through Festhome and are not specified on the official festival page itself. Check the Festhome listing directly for any submission fees before completing your entry, as Festhome typically charges tiered fees by deadline tier. The festival page does not include a detailed rights or licensing clause, so review Festhome's standard submission terms and any festival-specific rules linked under the Rules section of the official site before submitting. No broad IP transfer is advertised by the festival, but the absence of a published rights clause means you should confirm this via the Festhome entry form or by contacting [email protected].
The festival notes it supports the Czech Brain Foundation as a charitable partner, and its organisers are registered companies in Prague with published company and VAT identification numbers, which provides a degree of verifiability for an inaugural event.