Festival de Cannes 2027 · AI films guide

Can you submit an AI film to Cannes?The regulations are silent. The press is not.

The 2026 regulations of the Festival de Cannes contain no clause on AI. Some outlets report that on 9 April 2026 the festival ruled generative AI films out of the Competition, but no festival text says so. Here is what is official, what is only reported, the lengths Cannes accepts and where an AI film can go, starting with the screenplay in ScreenWeaver.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • No AI clause in the 2026 rules
  • A Competition ban, reported only
  • 80th edition, 11 to 22 May 2027
Lost Garden · Episode 2

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise the Festival de Cannes and is not affiliated with it. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official submission page

Available today in ScreenWeaver: free screenwriting, and a storyboard generated from your screenplay with Storyboard Beta, $9.99 a month.

Rolling out: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, with the Filmmaker plan.

The rules on one card

What Cannes asks of any film.

The 2026 texts are the latest published, and they apply to every film. None of them mentions AI. What they do contain are three limits that decide most entries before the question of AI even comes up.
Next edition
80th Festival, 11 to 22 May 2027
2027 regulations
Not yet published: the 2026 text is the latest
Short films
15 minutes at most, credits included
Feature films
More than 60 minutes
The gap
15 to 60 minutes is not accepted
Premiere rule
Made in the last 12 months, never online, no other international festival
Fee in 2026
€25 for a short, €75 for a feature video file, plus VAT
AI clause
None in the 2026 regulations

Sources: the 2026 regulations for feature films and for short films, the Submit a film page of festival-cannes.com and the Marché du Film pages, read on 1 October 2026. Press reports are labelled as such below. Selection is at the festival's sole discretion.

What is official, what is reported

Six things to know before you hope or give up.

The honest answer has two layers. One is in the regulations and the other is in the press, and they do not match. Each card says which one it is.

  • Official: no AI clause

    The 2026 regulations for feature films run to 14 articles and the short film regulations to 9. Neither contains the words AI, artificial intelligence or generative. Eligibility is a list of practical conditions: age of the film, premiere status and length. Article 2 gives the festival sole discretion over what is chosen.

  • Reported, not confirmed: a Competition ban

    The AI FILMS blog and NR Magazine report that at the press conference of 9 April 2026, films where generative AI drives the script, the images or the lead performance became ineligible for the Competition and the Palme d'Or. Neither links a festival document, and none was found on festival-cannes.com. Treat it as reported, not as a rule.

  • On the record: Frémaux, 11 May

    At the pre-festival press conference, Thierry Frémaux said Cannes stands with artists, writers and voice actors, and floated a future label for films made without AI. He added that he had not yet seen a fully AI film. France 24 and Moustique report these remarks and mention no ban.

  • What this means in practice

    No clause forbids you, and the leadership is publicly against AI-made work. With sole discretion, an AI-generated film should not count on Competition until a 2027 text says otherwise. Say how it was made when you register: Article 5 makes you guarantee the rights.

  • AI at the Marché du Film

    The Marché is the film market of the Festival de Cannes. Its Cannes Next strand held an AI for Talent Summit on 15 and 16 May 2026, by invitation only, for executives and investors. The Marché runs 11 to 19 May 2027. It is a market, not a selection.

  • Where an AI film can aim

    Cannes has no AI section. Other events sit beside it, with their own names: the World AI Film Festival holds a separate finale at the Palais des Festivals. None of them is the Festival de Cannes. The routes below show where an AI film can legitimately aim.

Key dates

One date is certain. The rest follows 2026.

The festival publishes its calendar late. Plan on the 2026 pattern, and <b>confirm each date the day the 2027 text appears</b>.

  1. 15 Feb 2027

    La Cinef deadline

    The only 2027 deadline published: films made at film schools, up to 60 minutes, with no fee.

  2. Not published

    Shorts and features

    In 2026 the short film sheet closed on 2 March with the upload by 9 March, and features on 13 March with the file by 23 March. Expect early spring 2027.

  3. Mid April 2027

    Selection announced

    Short films selected are told before the official press conference, which falls around the middle of April, according to the 2026 regulations.

  4. 11 to 19 May 2027

    The Marché du Film

    The film market, with the Cannes Next innovation strand. Dates are shown on the official market site.

  5. 11 to 22 May 2027

    The 80th Festival

    The date is shown on the official site. Selected films must send their DCP before the opening.

Who decides

A committee, then a jury.

Cannes does not publish the people who select. It does publish who is in charge and what the rules allow.

  • The selection committee

    Article 2 gives the festival sole discretion over the Official Selection, and the call page says the Selection Committee alone decides the section a film joins. No grid or criteria are published.

  • The Competition jury

    In 2026 the jury was headed by Park Chan-wook, with Demi Moore among its members. It hands out the Palme d'Or, the Grand Prix and the awards for direction, screenplay and acting. No 2027 jury has been named yet.

  • The leadership

    Iris Knobloch is the president and Thierry Frémaux the general delegate. Their public statements on AI are the best guide to what a 2027 text may say, but they are not rules.

The routes

Four ways a film reaches Cannes.

Cannes has no AI section and no themes. It has routes, each with its own limits. Under each, the angle we would take for a film made with AI tools.

  • 01

    Short Film Competition

    Shorts of 15 minutes or less, credits included, competing for a Palme d'Or.

    The shortest route and the one with a real chance. Do not choose it for the AI. Choose it for the film. If AI shows in the image, say so.

  • 02

    Feature films

    More than 60 minutes, for the Official Selection. Competition films must also be released in French theatres.

    Out of reach for a first AI film. A feature that stays hidden from the Internet and other international festivals until selection is a hard bet.

  • 03

    La Cinef

    A selection of 15 to 20 film school films, up to 60 minutes, with a 2027 deadline of 15 February and no fee.

    For students only. The call says school films must be registered here and cannot enter the Short Film Competition, so a film school short made with AI tools goes to La Cinef.

  • 04

    Short Film Corner and Rendez-vous Industry

    A professional forum for shorts of 1 to 35 minutes inside the festival, entered by paying an application fee through Cinéma de Demain.

    A meeting place, not a selection. Its AI rules were not read, so ask before you pay. It is where producers meet shorts, not where juries judge them.

The 2026 edition

What the last Cannes tells you.

The 79th edition ran from 12 to 23 May 2026, with AI as a leading subject off screen. The facts below come from news reports, not from festival rules.

  1. 01

    AI footage can appear in a film shown at Cannes. Steven Soderbergh's documentary on John Lennon, premiering at the 2026 edition, uses AI-generated video of Lennon and Yoko Ono obtained with Meta (France 24, 12 May 2026).

  2. 02

    The festival is not anti-technology. The same day Frémaux spoke, Cannes announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with Meta (France 24).

  3. 03

    A screening in Cannes is not a selection. The festival told Futurism that the AI feature Hell Grind was not part of the official program but an industry event organised by third parties (CineD, from the Wall Street Journal and Futurism).

  4. 04

    Different festivals share the name. AI festivals use Cannes in their title, one of them in the Palais des Festivals. They are separate events, and a laurel from one is not a Cannes laurel.

From script to screen

Lost Garden: six shots to cut for Cannes.

Cannes accepts shorts of 15 minutes or less. The scene below comes from Lost Garden, episode 2, an animated series by the ScreenWeaver team, made with Seedance. It comes as a screenplay page, then each shot as a storyboard frame and as the final image.

Logline. A newborn knight whose inner light is leaking away crosses a world that has stopped hoping, to find the one blacksmith who can seal his armor.

Screenplay · episode 2 · page 1

INT. UNDERGROUND CAVERN - LOWER PATH - CONTINUOUS

Blue mushrooms the size of houses. LANTERN, a small knight with a lantern for a helm, walks alone.

He presses a hand to his chest. Sparks of light slip between his fingers.

SERRURE

Hold on. You're losing something.

Serrure lifts the edge of the cloak. A gash in the armor. Blue light leaks out like smoke.

SERRURE

That's your energy. What keeps you standing.

He grips Lantern's shoulder. Two knights alone among the crystals.

SERRURE

A suit that leaks goes out. Eventually.

Under the giant mushrooms, the road climbs into the dark.

SERRURE

So. We follow the road.

Serrure points the way. Lantern follows.

CUT TO:

  1. A small knight with a lantern helm stands by a giant glowing blue mushroom in a crystal cavern
    Storyboard frame of the same wide shot, in grey
    01

    Wide · the world

    Wide shot, Lantern alone by a giant glowing blue mushroom, crystal cavern, roots, drifting spores, cold blue light

  2. Close-up of an armored chest under a cream cloak, a gloved hand, a spark of light
    Storyboard frame of the chest close-up, in grey
    02

    Close-up · the chest

    Close-up on Lantern's chest, his gloved hand pressed to the cloak, a spark of light escaping between the fingers

  3. A torn gash in an armor plate leaking bright blue light, a finger pointing at it
    Storyboard frame of the wound insert, in grey
    03

    Insert · the wound

    Extreme close-up, Serrure's finger near a torn gash in the back plate, blue light leaking out like luminous smoke

  4. Two armored knights side by side, one with a hand on the other's shoulder, in a crystal cavern
    Storyboard frame of the two-shot, in grey
    04

    Two-shot · the bond

    Medium two-shot among crystals and roots, Serrure's hand on Lantern's shoulder, faceless armors, emotion through posture only

  5. Two small knights walk beneath two giant glowing blue mushrooms
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    05

    Wide · the scale

    Wide low angle, the two knights tiny beneath two giant glowing mushrooms, blue crystals in the foreground, mist

  6. Seen from behind, a tall dark knight points ahead while the small lantern knight looks on
    Storyboard frame of the over-the-shoulder shot, in grey
    06

    Over the shoulder · the road

    Over-the-shoulder from behind, Serrure points ahead into the cavern, Lantern beside him, roots framing the path

Lost Garden, episode 2 runs 21 minutes, which falls in the 15 to 60 minute gap that Cannes does not accept. For Cannes it would be recut as a self-contained 14 minute short, with a clear opening image and no dependence on episode 1. The player opens on the cave scene.

The script

A 13 minute short in four movements.

Stay under 15 minutes with the credits, so write for 13 minutes: about 13 screenplay pages and 100 to 130 shots of 5 to 7 seconds. Cannes shorts reward a voice, so each movement needs one decision you can defend.

  1. 0:00 to 1:30

    The image

    One shot that could only be this film. No setup text and no logo.

  2. 1:30 to 5:00

    The wound

    What is wrong in this life. Show it through objects and habits, not through a speech.

  3. 5:00 to 10:30

    The turn

    A single act that cannot be undone. Give this movement the longest takes and the least music.

  4. 10:30 to 13:00

    The silence

    Let the consequence sit. End on a face or a place, then the credits.

Films in a language other than French or English need French or English subtitles integrated into the image for the preselection. Burn them in, do not rely on a player.

Month by month

From now to the 2027 call.

Nothing opens before the 2027 regulations appear. This plan has a finished short ready by the end of February 2027, so you can register the day the sheet opens.
  1. 01

    October 2026

    Watch the rules page

    Reread the 2026 regulations and mark Article 3 on premiere status and length. Decide now whether the film goes online or to any other festival before Cannes. It must not.

  2. 02

    November 2026

    Screenplay, 13 pages

    One location, one decision, few words. Write it free in ScreenWeaver and time it with the script time calculator.

  3. 03

    December 2026

    Storyboard and look

    Generate the storyboard from the screenplay and fix the framing of the opening image and the closing one. Approve references for each face and place.

  4. 04

    January 2027

    Footage

    Generate scene by scene with Seedance in ScreenWeaver when video generation is on your plan. Log every tool and every prompt.

  5. 05

    February 2027

    Edit, sound, burned-in subtitles

    Cut under 15 minutes with the credits. Mix the sound and burn subtitles into the picture if the language is not French or English. Export a 1080p file.

  6. 06

    March 2027, expected

    Register and upload

    In 2026 the short film fee was €25 and the file was uploaded online. Fill in the form when the 2027 sheet opens, with an honest note on how the film was made.

Ways to lose before the committee

Seven ways to be out of Cannes.

Most of these come from Article 3 and Article 4, not from AI. They sink more films than any policy does.

  • Putting the film online first

    The film must not have been screened on the Internet. A public link on YouTube or Vimeo before you register is enough to lose your eligibility.

  • An international festival premiere

    If the film appeared in an international selection of another festival, it is no longer eligible. A selection counts as international once it shows films from different countries. An AI festival win can close the Cannes door.

  • A runtime in the gap

    Films between 15 and 60 minutes are not accepted. A 16 minute short and a 55 minute pilot are both out.

  • Hiding how the film was made

    Article 5 makes the rights-holder guarantee the rights and the dignity of every contributor. A film that hides its AI use creates a risk for you, and the festival can pull a film for an exceptional event.

  • Calling a market screening a selection

    Producers and vendors can screen films at the Marché du Film for a fee. That is not the Official Selection. Never write “Cannes Official Selection” for it.

  • Mistaking a namesake for Cannes

    World Film Festival in Cannes, World AI Cinema Festival in Cannes and AI festival finales in Cannes are separate organisations. Their laurels do not say Festival de Cannes.

  • Subtitles you can switch off

    For preselection, subtitles must be part of the picture. Selected films are screened in their original version with French subtitles, so plan the language you generate in.

Why ScreenWeaver

Cannes asks for a voice. Find yours on the page.

Cannes imposes no tool and has no AI quota in its text. It selects a film with an author. ScreenWeaver gives you the screenplay, the storyboard and the footage in one project, with the author in charge of each shot.

  • A short that fits the cap

    The shot breakdown and the script timing tell you early whether the film is 13 minutes or 16. At Cannes, that decides whether it is read.

  • Direction you can show

    Framing, angle, movement and duration are set shot by shot in the storyboard. When the festival asks for a personal vision, the choices are yours and visible.

  • A provenance you can state

    Shots trace back to scenes, scenes to the screenplay, and every prompt stays with its frame. That gives you an accurate note when you register and when a distributor asks.

  • Zero cost to start

    The Screenwriter plan costs $0 with no expiry. Storyboard Beta is priced at $9.99 a month, and the Filmmaker plan will add Seedance video generation.

Real productions

International festival-recognized films have been written and produced with ScreenWeaver.

ScreenWeaver is already being used as a creative workspace for real AI film productions, from cinematic shorts to animated series pilots selected, nominated, and awarded by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place Dreamina

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • Award Winner

      Seoul International AI Film Festival

  • Video thumbnail for Les Fils du Vinnana

    Les Fils du Vinnana

    AI short film

    Festival recognition

    • Honorable Mention

      Top Quark Film Festival

    • People's Choice Nominee

      Illuminate Oneness of Humanity

    • Nominee

      ALTFF Supershort

  • Video thumbnail for Lost Garden

    Lost Garden

    AI animated series pilot

    Festival recognition

    • Finalist

      AI London Festival

See what creators are building

The pipeline

Write. Board. Produce.

  1. ScreenWeaver screenplay editor: acts, sequences and beats above the formatted script of The Yellow Umbrella

    01The screenplay, enriched

    An industry-standard screenplay editor, and more: a visual outline and beat editor, your writing inspirations (notes, photos, audio) kept next to the page, and an AI researcher to support your writing, not replace it.

  2. ScreenWeaver storyboard: shot S3 of The Yellow Umbrella with characters, shot settings and the script beside it

    02The storyboard, made easy

    Shot breakdown generated from your screenplay, manual control over every shot (frame, angle, movement, duration), and generative AI previsualization in one click.

  3. ScreenWeaver production canvas: shots S3 and S4 as connected nodes carrying their storyboard panels and prompts

    03AI production, with finesse

    Footage generation pipelines connected to your screenplay and storyboard. Optimized out of the box, fully editable workflow.

More AI film festivals

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for festival films

FAQ

Cannes and AI films, your questions

Can you submit an AI film to Cannes?
Nothing in the 2026 regulations forbids it. Press reports a Competition ban on generative AI films that no festival text confirms. The festival has sole discretion, so an AI-generated film should not count on the Competition. Register honestly, and read the 2027 text when it appears.
Has Cannes banned AI films?
No official text says so. The regulations have no AI clause. Some outlets, such as the AI FILMS blog and NR Magazine, report a ban announced on 9 April 2026 and cite no festival document. France 24 and Moustique, reporting the 11 May press conference, mention no ban.
What has Cannes said about AI?
At the pre-festival press conference, Thierry Frémaux said Cannes stands with artists, writers and voice actors, and suggested a future label for films made without AI. He said he had not yet seen a fully AI-made film. That is a position, not a regulation.
What is the Cannes 2027 deadline?
Not published. The 2026 short film sheet closed on 2 March and the features on 13 March. The only 2027 deadline published is 15 February 2027 for La Cinef, the film school selection.
What length does Cannes accept?
A short in Competition must be 15 minutes or less, credits included. A feature must be longer than 60 minutes. Cannes does not accept films between 15 and 60 minutes.
What are the Cannes submission fees?
In 2026 the short film fee was €25 excluding VAT, uploaded online. A feature sent as a video file cost €75 excluding VAT. La Cinef charges nothing. The 2027 amounts are not published.
Can an AI film be shown at the Marché du Film?
Producers and vendors can screen films at the market for a fee. It is not the Official Selection. The market ran an invite-only AI for Talent Summit on 15 and 16 May 2026, for executives and investors, not for filmmakers.
Is the World AI Film Festival in Cannes the same thing?
No. It is a separate festival that holds a finale at the Palais des Festivals. Winning there is not winning at the Festival de Cannes, and a premiere there can end your eligibility for Cannes.

No call yet. The page can start today.

Draft the screenplay for free. Storyboard it, and make it with Seedance when generation reaches your plan.
Start writing for freeBack to the demo