Austin AI Film Festival returns this Friday and Saturday (16
The second Austin AI Film Festival runs Oct 16 and 17, and the how-it-was-made talks sit on Friday, two of them sponsor-branded. Saturday screens 40 films in five blocks with one Q&A per block, and nearly every detail comes from the festival itself.
The second Austin AI Film Festival runs this Friday and Saturday, Oct 16 and 17, at the Topfer at Zach Theatre, and the part where makers explain how their films were made sits mostly on Friday. The summit day includes a talk from director Billy Boman (@billy.boman), "If It Looks AI, We've Failed," Henry Daubrez's "Hot or Slop," and a panel called "The Superhuman Director" with Crank co-director Brian Taylor.
Two of Friday's six headline sessions carry a sponsor's name. The festival calls Dreamina, the CapCut-owned video tool, its main sponsor, and Beeble is a presenting partner with its own masterclass and a panel seat. Sponsored talks can still be useful; it just helps to know whose stage you are watching.
Saturday is the screening day: 40 films in five blocks, with a director Q&A after each block, according to the Texas Film Commission listing. That works out to roughly one conversation for every eight films, so expect a chat per block rather than a breakdown of every film. Awards start at 7:15 PM Central, which is 1:15 AM on Sunday in London.
In practice, if you can get to Austin, the $99 Friday pass buys the talks and the mentor tables, where most of the networking happens. If you can't, watch Saturday's winners: festival selections are the closest thing this scene has to a quality bar, and their process notes will travel next week.
Source: Austin AI Film Festival agenda and rules, Texas Film Commission listing, Oct 15, 2026. Photos from the festival's 2025 edition.
