Kazakhstan hosts world’s largest AI film competition

Kazakhstan hosted the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026), billed as the world's largest international competition for films created using artificial intelligence, drawing 8,067 entries from 125 countries, Kazinform News Agency reported Monday.

Kazakhstan ranked second in terms of submissions, with 829 films, behind the US with 1,395. India followed with 702, then China with 550 and South Korea with 349.

"Just a few months ago, we were launching an international competition, and today we have received more than 8,000 entries from 125 countries," said Almaz Zhali, co-founder and chairman of the AAIFF board.

AAIFF co-founder and creative director Aizatulla Khussain said the festival was conceived in Astana in December 2025 amid rapid advances in generative video technology.

"We can now state clearly that the Astana AI Film Festival is the world's largest AI film festival, both in terms of its $2 million funding and the number of submissions," he said.

"We entered the market at the right time, just as technologies capable of producing real films began to emerge."

Nearly 40% of the entries, or 3,138 films, explored the festival's theme, "The Future Worth Living In," while 4,929 works were submitted to an open competition spanning 19 genres, the outlet said. The submitted films have a combined runtime of more than 100,000 minutes and were created by 4,756 filmmakers using more than 80 generative models.

The festival has a $1 million prize pool, including $750,000 for its main thematic program and $250,000 across five open categories. A separate $1 million investment fund was established by entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan to support promising AI teams.

Srinivasan said falling production costs could create opportunities for smaller language communities, allowing them to produce content tailored to their cultures.

"You can actually have Kazakh-language content," he said. "Smaller language spheres can get their own movies. It won't just be Hollywood everywhere."