Summary
Courant3D is giving AI-assisted filmmaking a dedicated place at its 14th edition in Angoulême, France, running 6–11 October 2026. Two competition screenings at the Méga CGR will present shorts of up to 30 minutes that used AI either in screenwriting or audiovisual production. The programme also includes three small masterclasses on animation workflows, realistic filmmaking and the technology market, plus a public conference about collaboration and team organisation. A separate screening will show highlights from Beijing’s AI Artist festival. Organiser Prenez du Relief and partner Magelis are placing these works alongside the festival’s established focus on stereoscopic cinema, virtual reality and other emerging formats. The detailed film list, tools used and division of human and machine work were not available in the report.
Hana’s perspective
I find the programming choice more significant than the label itself. Putting AI-assisted shorts in a cinema, beside stereoscopic and restored works, asks audiences to judge them as films rather than demos. The masterclasses may be just as valuable: separating animation, realistic imagery and team organisation makes the production questions concrete. Still, a broad category covering both script assistance and generated visuals can hide major differences in authorship and labour. Festivals should pair screenings with clear, work-by-work disclosure of where models were used, what people contributed, and how rights were handled. That context will make the jury’s artistic choices more useful to filmmakers evaluating these tools.
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