Florence AI Festival 2026 · Guide

How to win the Florence AI Festival.Eight categories. Twenty minutes. One day in Florence.

The rules, the eight categories, what “a real creative instrument, not a novelty” asks of you and a plan to the reported 4 November deadline. Then take the film from page to screen in ScreenWeaver.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Reported deadline 4 November 2026
  • 20 minutes maximum
  • Festival day 22 November
Lost Garden · Episode 2

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise the Florence AI Festival and is not affiliated with VIA - Visual Innovation Awards. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official festival 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 FAIF asks of an entry.

FAIF is a one-day festival in a Florentine palace, made by the team behind the Rome AI Festival. Its page is short and keeps its demands to a few lines: a time limit, an AI requirement, and ownership that stays yours.
The festival
22 November 2026, Palazzo San Niccolò, Florence
Deadline
4 November 2026, as reported by an aggregator
Running time
20 minutes at most, no minimum
Categories
Eight, plus one Best of Festival
AI requirement
Generative AI as a real creative instrument
Ownership
100% yours: creators keep copyright
Who can enter
Worldwide, 18 and over, finished after 1 January 2025
Prizes
Trophy and laurel, a screening, no cash stated

Source: the festival’s home page on faif.it.com, read on 1 October 2026. The deadline, the opening date, the age limit and the completion date come from the aifilmcontests.com listing and from FilmFreeway text relayed by search, because the FilmFreeway page itself could not be opened for this guide. Check each of them on FilmFreeway before paying.

Key dates

Five weeks to a one-day festival.

The official page gives the festival date and no deadline. The dates for submission come from an aggregator: treat them as likely, and confirm them on the festival’s FilmFreeway page.

  1. 26 Aug 2026

    Submissions open

    As reported by aifilmcontests.com. The festival’s page sends entrants to its FilmFreeway listing.

  2. 4 Nov 2026

    Reported deadline

    Not printed on the official page we read. Plan to finish a few days earlier, so that a wrong date costs you nothing.

  3. Soon

    Festival passes

    The page says ticket registration is the next release, and the first pass drop will be announced there.

  4. 22 Nov 2026

    The festival

    A full day at Palazzo San Niccolò: competition screenings, keynotes, the technology expo, networking and the live awards ceremony.

The eight categories

Pick the category before the idea.

FAIF has no single theme. It has eight categories, each with its own “Best AI” award: Horror, Animation, Documentary, Narrative, Comedy, Music Video, Commercial and New World. One Best of Festival then crosses all of them. Six are covered here, and Documentary follows the same logic as Narrative.

  • 01

    Animation

    Best AI Animation, in any technique, within the 20 minute ceiling.

    A stylised world forgives glitches that photorealism exposes. Choose one style and hold it: a single palette from the first frame to the last reads as a director’s choice.

  • 02

    New World

    Fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding.

    Show the rules of the world rather than explain them. One place, one custom, one object that tells us how this world differs from ours.

  • 03

    Narrative

    Best AI Narrative: story-led films, with a character who wants something.

    The widest field and the one where story decides. A film with two characters and a clear change beats a collection of beautiful shots.

  • 04

    Horror

    Best AI Horror.

    Generated imagery already drifts into the uncanny, so use it. Suggest more than you show: a corridor, a sound, a face turned away costs fewer shots and works better.

  • 05

    Comedy

    Best AI Comedy.

    Timing is the hard part with generated video. Write for the cut, not the shot: a joke needs a setup, a pause and a reaction, each of them a separate generation.

  • 06

    Music Video and Commercial

    Two separate categories, Best AI Music Video and Best AI Commercial, both short by nature.

    A short format makes a polished finish achievable in days. For a commercial, never let a generated logo or label slip in: video models invent brands on their own.

From script to screen

Lost Garden: one scene, six shots.

FAIF’s New World category asks for fantasy worldbuilding. This is the opening of Lost Garden, episode 2, an animated series made by the ScreenWeaver team with Seedance: the screenplay page as you hear it in the film, 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, one minute over FAIF’s 20 minute ceiling, so entering it would mean a cut. It shows a world built by scale and light: giant mushrooms, a crystal cavern, two small knights. An animated series by the ScreenWeaver team, made with Seedance; episode 1 was a finalist at the AI London Festival. The player opens on this scene.

The script

A 12 minute film in four movements.

The limit is 20 minutes and there is no minimum. A tighter film reads better on a day of back-to-back screenings, so aim for 12 minutes: about 12 screenplay pages and 90 to 120 shots of 5 to 8 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 0:50

    The hook

    A single frame that raises a question. A programme full of AI films rewards a clear first minute.

  2. 0:50 to 4:00

    The world and what is wanted

    Where we are, who wants what, and the visual rule the film will obey.

  3. 4:00 to 9:20

    The pressure

    The situation tightens. Give one scene to sound and image alone.

  4. 9:20 to 12:00

    The turn

    A choice, its cost and a final image that answers the first. Then the credits.

A film for the commercial or music video categories is far shorter. The same four movements fit into 30 to 90 seconds if you compress each to a single shot or two.

Week by week

Five weeks, one step at a time.

Five weeks from 1 October to the reported deadline. The footage takes the fourth week. Everything before it decides whether that week goes well.
  1. 01

    1 to 7 October

    Category and logline

    Choose one of the eight categories and write five loglines for it. Tell them to someone and keep the one that comes back to you in their words.

  2. 02

    8 to 14 October

    The screenplay

    Twelve pages, or one page for a commercial. Write it free in ScreenWeaver, in industry format, and cut anything the film does not need.

  3. 03

    15 to 21 October

    Reference sheets and shot list

    Approve a reference for every character and every set. Break the screenplay into shots and refine each frame. A held look is cheaper to plan than to repair.

  4. 04

    22 to 28 October

    The footage

    Work scene by scene once video generation reaches your plan, starting from the storyboard and the references. Save each prompt and each take.

  5. 05

    29 October to 3 November

    Final cut and subtitles

    Cut to length, mix the sound, add English subtitles if the film is not in English, and export a clean master.

  6. 06

    By 4 November

    Check the deadline and submit

    Open the festival’s FilmFreeway page, confirm the deadline and the fee, and upload. Do not rely on this page or on any aggregator for the date.

Ways to lose the entry

Seven ways to be out before the screening.

The official page is short, and the details sit on FilmFreeway. Read the listing before you pay, because several of these come from there.

  • AI as a novelty

    The festival says generative AI must be a real creative instrument and not a novelty. A live-action film with one generated shot, or a film where the AI could be removed without loss, misses the point.

  • A film over twenty minutes

    The ceiling is 20 minutes. There is no minimum, so a one minute commercial is as eligible as a short.

  • A category chosen late

    Eight categories means eight different expectations. A comedy entered as narrative competes with story films, and the logic of each “Best AI” award follows its genre.

  • A deadline you did not check

    The date on the official page is absent. The 4 November date comes from an aggregator. Confirm it on FilmFreeway and finish a few days before.

  • No English subtitles

    Films not in English need English subtitles, according to the listing text relayed by search. Check on FilmFreeway whether burned-in subtitles or a subtitle file are expected.

  • A film completed too long ago

    The listing text says projects must have been completed after 1 January 2025. It also says films that already played at other festivals are accepted.

  • Music and brands you do not own

    You keep 100% ownership of the film, which also means you carry its clearances. Licence every music track and check each generated shot for logos.

Why ScreenWeaver

The festival wants real AI use. ScreenWeaver builds the whole film.

FAIF imposes no tool. It asks that AI be a creative instrument and not a novelty, which is an argument about the film itself: screenplay, storyboard and footage in one connected project.

  • AI used for the story, not on top of it

    When the screenplay, storyboard and footage live in one project, each shot has a reason in the script. That is what “a real creative instrument” looks like from the outside.

  • Eight categories, one pipeline

    A 12 minute narrative, a 3 minute music video and a 45 second commercial all start from a page and a storyboard. You change the length, not the method.

  • A look that holds

    Characters, locations and references carry from shot to shot, so an animation or a New World film keeps one world from the first frame to the last.

  • Start for free today

    Writing is free for good on the Screenwriter plan, so the first step costs you nothing. Storyboard Beta runs $9.99 per month. Video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, arrives with the Filmmaker plan.

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

The Florence AI Festival, your questions

How do you win the Florence AI Festival?
The festival publishes no jury and no judging criteria. It does say that generative AI must be a real creative instrument, and it gives one award per category plus a Best of Festival. Make a finished film in one clear category, with AI at the centre of the idea.
What is the deadline?
The festival’s page does not print one. The aifilmcontests.com listing, last checked on 30 September 2026, gives 4 November 2026. Confirm it on the festival’s FilmFreeway page.
Is there a minimum or maximum runtime?
Up to 20 minutes, with no minimum runtime. That includes a commercial of a few seconds.
Which categories exist?
Horror, Animation, Documentary, Narrative, Comedy, Music Video, Commercial and New World, which covers fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding. One Best of Festival is chosen across all categories.
What prizes are offered?
The page lists a physical screening at Palazzo San Niccolò, official selection, nominee and winner laurels, a full-day filmmaker credential and coverage on VIA and partner channels. A listing also mentions trophies. No cash prize is stated.
Who runs it?
VIA - Visual Innovation Awards, the organisation behind the Rome AI Festival. The festival calls Rome the industry summit and Florence the festival built for creatives.
Who owns the film?
Yes. The page states that creators keep 100% of their ownership and copyright.
Do I have to attend?
Nothing on the page settles this. It offers a full-day filmmaker credential and a physical screening, and the festival lasts a single day on 22 November 2026. Ask the organisers if you plan to submit from abroad.

Five weeks. Start with the page.

Write the screenplay for free today. Storyboard it, then film it as video generation reaches your plan.
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