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 26th November 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
Submissions for the inaugural 2025 edition of DISRUPT have now closed.
Thank you to all of our talented applicants.
We can’t wait to showcase entries at our exclusive Awards Night on the 26th of November, 2025.
JUDGES
ANT KEOGH
ARTIST & CO-FOUNDER, KERFUFFLE
JESSIE HUGHES
SENIOR CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST LEONARDO.AI
MELANIE SILVA
MANAGING DIRECTOR & VP GOOGLE AUSTRALIA
MAX SCHLESER
ASSOC. PROF. FILM & TELEVISION SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY
LYN NORFOR
DIR. PRODUCTION & FACILITIES AFTRS
FLETCHER WATSON
CO-FOUNDER, WILDFIRE CONTENT
LUKE EID
GLOBAL CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER OMNICOM ADVERTISING GROUP
PAUL REARDON
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER TBWA MELBOURNE & JURY CHAIR
REECE GOODWIN
ACMI CURATOR
LUCINDA BARLOW
HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING UBER
SPONSORS
SUPPORTED BY:
AWARDS NIGHT
November 26
ACMI
Federation Square
Melbourne
The winners of the festival will be announced at a gala event on November 26th, 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.