# World AI Film Festival (WAIFF)

**Type:** Film festival  
**Founded:** 2025  
**Location:** Cannes, France (Palais des Festivals)  
**Festival President:** Gong Li (2026)  
**Artistic Director:** Julien Raout  

## Overview

World AI Film Festival is an annual festival dedicated to AI-generated and AI-assisted filmmaking, held at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The festival represents institutional recognition of AI filmmaking as a legitimate creative form, with major cinema figures serving in leadership roles.

## Timeline

- **2025** — First WAIFF held in Cannes
- **April 21-22, 2026** — WAIFF 2026 held with festival president Gong Li and jury led by Agnès Jaoui (César-winning French filmmaker). Received 7,000+ submissions; 54 films in official selection (<1% acceptance rate). Best Film: 'Costa Verde' by Léo Cannone (12-minute personal narrative). Artistic director Julien Raout stated 'Last year's best films wouldn't make the official selection of 54 films this year,' documenting rapid year-over-year quality improvement. Festival noted AI characters now show 'micro-expressions, proper lip-sync and believable faces' compared to 'wooden' appearance in 2025. Announced development of 'Netflix for AI films' distribution platform, potentially launching 'in the next few months'

## Distribution Strategy

WAIFF organizers announced development of a dedicated streaming platform for AI films, described as 'Netflix for AI films,' with potential launch in coming months as of April 2026.

## Significance

The festival's location at Cannes Palais des Festivals and involvement of major cinema figures (Gong Li, Agnès Jaoui) signals mainstream institutional engagement with AI filmmaking. The competitive selection rate (<1%) and crossover of winning films into traditional festival circuits (Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2026) indicates quality threshold crossing.