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DISRUPT AI Film Festival reports 487 entries, but only Australian residents can win

TBWA Australia's festival says entries rose 31% to 487. Its own white paper counted 73 Australian films among last year's 371, and this year's eligible count is not public.

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Only Australian residents can win TBWA Australia's DISRUPT AI Film Festival, yet its own research says most of last year's entries came from overseas. This year's headline number skips that split, and free entry carries a price in data that the terms spell out.

The agency announced on Tuesday that its second edition drew 487 entries, up 31% from 371 in 2025. The white paper it published with Deakin and Swinburne universities counted 73 Australian films among those 371, so overseas entries outnumbered local ones more than four to one. The release does not say how many of this year's 487 can actually win.

The prize got smaller too. Four awards pay A$2,500 each, a A$10,000 pool, while a TBWA Australia LinkedIn post said each 2025 winner received $5,000. A 12-person jury chaired by TBWA creative chief Paul Reardon names the winners at The Capitol in Melbourne on Nov 18, and a Sydney screening follows on Nov 24. The festival site lists the Melbourne night as invite-only.

For Australian makers the odds are better than 487 suggests: last year 73 local films competed for 38 shortlist spots, judged by agency creative chiefs and Google's creative partnerships team. The catch sits in the terms, which let entrants' tools, key prompts and personal details go to sponsors and partners for marketing.

Our take: DISRUPT is a real door, and it publishes better research than most festivals. Publish the eligible count, and the 31% growth story gets more honest and more interesting.

Source: DISRUPT release via Campaign Brief, Nov 10, 2026, and the festival's white paper with Deakin and Swinburne.

Read the full article: thegenerated.com/stories/disrupt-ai-film-festival-487-entries-20261111

Provenance — Campaign Brief: programme and dates; AdNews: festival announcement · Status: verified: MEDIUM (Campaign Brief + AdNews + Mi3; overlapping announcement-led coverage)

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DISRUPT AI Film Festival reports 487 entries, but only Australian residents can win

Zhao Liying sues Hongguo and Douyin, testing whether a recognizable AI face makes the app pay

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