"Australia Needs Its Own Voice": TBWA Backs First National AI Film Festival

​TBWA\Australia is launching the DISRUPT AI Film Festival (DAIFF), the country’s first generative AI film festival, which aims to reimagine storytelling through generative artificial intelligence and video.

Set to take place on October 29th 2025, the festival invites filmmakers, technologists, artists, students and creators across Australia to submit original films made in collaboration with generative AI tools addressing the theme, ‘Humans and Their Tools.’
The idea for DAIFF came from within TBWA’s creative ranks, championed by recently appointed chief AI and innovation officer Lucio Ribeiro.

“I've been really seeing this taking over the whole world. AI film festivals are exploding globally from New York, to Austria, to the UK, and they have about two or three in America,” Lucio told LBB.

“We’re watching some of these guys in America or in Europe discuss the ethics and the payment and IP, and I'm thinking, okay, these guys are deciding these things which is pretty cool, but how about us? Australia needs its own voice.”

For Lucio, “the best way to shape culture is not to react, but to take responsibility.” With that in mind, launching the festival at TBWA “was perfect, because the TBWA motto and philosophy is Disrupt.”

DAIFF will celebrate work across four categories, culminating in one Grand Prix overall winner with a prize purse of AUD 15,000.

The four categories are:

• Best Short Film – under 3 minutes 
• Best Long Film – 3 to 15 minutes 
• Best Student Film – under 3 minutes 
• Grand Prix Winner – selected from the three category winners 

The festival’s inaugural theme of ‘Humans and Their Tools’ was thought up by Paul Reardon, chief creative officer at TBWA.

While the criteria across all submissions will need to demonstrate a clear creative collaboration between human creators and generative AI tools, filmmakers are also asked to reflect on the human contribution.

“We have been using tools to produce things since the early ages. The very first tool was actually bone – the tool from humans to help humans,” said Lucio. “They were using bones to break things, but also to produce things. The history of evolution has always been humans collaborating with tools and using tools for progress. This is the same thing, how we make another milestone, another wave of progression, utilising the tools we have.”

Whilst the first year of the festival will be about learning the ropes, Lucio said “it's not just about the technical side, it's not just about the films themselves, it's an invitation.”

“I hope that by the time that we have the red carpet in October, we also have thought leadership discussions and panels talking about ethics, IP, and remuneration. We’ll learn as a community, and then hopefully in year two, we become bigger, but also have more character, have more depth.”

For all the planning there is to do before October, there is also a sense of the unknown when launching an event of this scale.

“I was asked 'do you expect more students or more established people to take part,' and the simple answer is, I don't know. I actually don't,” said Lucio.

“I would love to see a combination of really young, hungry talent with the wisdom and the curiosity of established talent. But I’d also love to see where the talent pools are here. We might find out there are a lot of great people coming from Brisbane or regional Victoria, I don't know.”

While the festival sits under the TBWA banner, Lucio is clear that it is open to all. “Hopefully the industry receives it with an open mind.”

The TBWA team are still inviting partners who are interested in supporting the festival.  Submissions for DAIFF are now open at www.daiff.com.au.