Austin AI Film Festival 2026

Austin's AI film festival

The Austin AI Film Festival returns for a second year as a two-day event at Zach Theatre on October 16 and 17. Its stated mission is to celebrate human stories made with AI software — amplifying new voices and pushing what the tools can do — rather than to treat the technology as a novelty. The organizers position the timing deliberately: the festival lands between ACL and Formula 1, when the city is already full.

Program

The two days are split by theme:

• Day One — Behind the Craft. How AI films actually get made, through keynotes, panels, and live demo sessions with the filmmakers and the platforms behind the work.
• Day Two — Films of the Year. Screenings of the competition finalists, each followed by an interview with its filmmaker, closing with the awards show.
• Across both days — a creator hackathon, putting filmmakers in the room making work with mentors on hand.

What is not yet published

Daily start and end times have not been announced, so the times shown on this listing are placeholders covering a plausible festival day — do not plan travel around them. Ticket prices are also unpublished, and as of 9 August the site still has no ticketing page at all. The organizer's own timeline sets early-bird tickets to open on August 15 alongside the submission deadline, with regular ticket sales from September 1. Check the official site from mid-August for the schedule and pricing, both of which will be added here once they exist.