Tashkent will host ZIYO FEST AI, an international festival of films made with artificial intelligence, in January 2027, with the main event scheduled for January 15 at the Galacinema Riviera cinema. The competition will accept short films running from one to 30 minutes and is intended to showcase how AI tools are changing production, visual storytelling and post-production. Organizers say the festival will also serve as a platform for filmmakers, producers and technology specialists to discuss authorship, ethics and copyright in AI-assisted cinema. Entries must have been created no earlier than 2026, may be in any language and must include English subtitles.
Key Takeaways: Submissions for ZIYO FEST AI are open until December 13, participation is free and authors may submit an unlimited number of works. The festival will award seven nominations, including the main prize, Best Directing, Visual Aesthetics, Technical Execution, Emotional Impact and Use of Artificial Intelligence, plus an audience vote. An international jury will assess the entries, while the programme will include master classes and discussions on AI ethics and copyright.
The announcement comes as generative AI spreads rapidly across filmmaking, from concept art and storyboarding to voice processing, visual effects and editing. Supporters see the technology as a way to lower production costs and expand creative options, while critics warn of disputes over authorship, the use of likenesses and voices, and the ownership of finished works. The organizers have included these issues in the festival programme, but detailed rules for assessing works that rely on such tools have not yet been published. That gap reflects a wider regulatory debate: festivals and cultural institutions are trying to set standards even as the technology and legal practice continue to evolve.
The jury is expected to include industry representatives from several countries. Among those named by the organizers are Nigora Karimova, director of the Institute of Art Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and a doctor of art history; Polish producer Zbigniew Żmudzki, described by the organizers as an Oscar winner; and screenwriter Odelsha Agishev, a professor at VGIK and the Higher Courses of Scriptwriters and Directors and an Honored Art Worker of Russia. The festival will combine competition screenings with master classes and panel discussions, including sessions on ethical questions and copyright when AI is used in film production.
The event also follows a broader cultural policy step in Uzbekistan: the Ministry of Culture has approved rules for grants to projects in culture and the arts, with AI-related development and digitalization listed among the eligible directions. For Tashkent, the festival could help position the city as a venue for debate on creative technology in Central Asia, although the practical impact will depend on the quality of entries and the clarity of the competition rules. Organizers are expected to release further details on the programme, jury procedures and evaluation criteria ahead of the January 2027 event.
Source: podrobno.uz