TBWA Bone
DAIFF

THE
FESTIVAL

DISRUPT AI Film Festival (DAIFF) is Australia’s first Gen AI film festival — a national platform for filmmakers, artists, technologists, and students to explore storytelling powered by AI. Anchored by the theme “Humans and Their Tools”, the festival champions human-in-the-loop creativity — where technology becomes a co-creator, not a competitor.

The inaugural edition will culminate in a national screening and awards showcase, featuring the best entries, on 29th
October 2025.

2025
THEME

A bone lifted as a hammer. A brush pulled across canvas. A camera capturing a moment. Gen AI responding to a prompt. They are all tools. What matters – what’s always mattered – are the humans that use them.

The theme for this year’s DISRUPT Festival, Humans and Their Tools, explores this premise.   

SUBMISSIONS

Entering DISRUPT is easy. We’ve designed the process to be as smooth as possible — whether you’re an indie filmmaker, a student, a Creative professional, a technologist, or an AI-curious creator.

HERE’S HOW
TO SUBMIT
YOUR FILM

  • Your film must only involve the use of Generative AI tools — for visuals, audio, effects, animation or anything else.

    Films must be completed within the past 12 months. 

    They must be Australian-made and not yet screened or distributed in Victoria before 29 October 2025. 

    Submissions must be final cuts (no works-in-progress)

    • Best Short Film (under 3 minutes) 

    • Best Long Film (3–15 minutes) 

    • Best Student Film (under 3 minutes — you’ll need to show proof of current student enrolment) 

    All entries are automatically considered for the Grand Prix 

  • When entering, we’ll ask you for: 

    • Basic film info – title, synopsis, team, runtime, etc. 

    • Posters & stills – one horizontal and one vertical poster, 5x film stills 

    • Your AI Process – 

      • What tools you used (e.g. Runway, Midjourney, ChatGPT) 

      • A few example prompts 

      • Your role as “the human in the loop”. 

    This doesn’t need to be overly technical — we just want to understand your creative thinking.

  • You’ll upload your screener (via Vimeo, YouTube or direct upload), enter your details, and hit submit. 
Submissions open in July 2025. Deadline TBC. 

    Questions? 
Reach us anytime at daiff-au@tbwa.com 

JUDGES

Judges for the festival will be announced shortly.

AWARDS NIGHT

October 29

ACMI
Federation Square
Melbourne

The winners of the festival will be announced at a gala event on October 29th, in Melbourne.
  

Hosted at ACMI, the cultural home of Australian film, this evening will bring together creators, innovators, and decision-makers, for a night of celebration, conversation, and bold storytelling.
  

There will be a screening of finalists, and the announcement and screening of the winners for each category, including the Grand Prix winner.   

Short panels, featuring special guests, will explore the future of creativity, IP and ethics in an AI-powered world.
 

Panels on: 

Authorship & Ownership – Legal frontiers of GenAI, Ethics, copyright and IP. 
 

Creativity & Collaboration – The enduring role of human imagination in the age of new Gen AI tools.

 

Attendance by invitation.