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Fantasia 31st edition · AI films guide

Can you submit an AI film to Fantasia?Yes. Disclose it, phase by phase.

Fantasia accepts AI films and requires disclosure of any AI use, generative AI above all, in pre-production, production or post-production. Films that break its ethical and legal standards are disqualified. Submissions opened on 1 September 2026 and the early bird ends on 1 December.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Disclosure mandatory
  • Early bird 1 December 2026
  • Festival 15 July to 1 August 2027
Lost Garden · Episode 1

Independent guide. 熙熙 does not organise the Fantasia International Film Festival and is not affiliated with it. Rules read on 1 October 2026. Official submissions FAQ

Available today in 熙熙: free screenwriting, and a storyboard generated from your screenplay with the 年度会员, ¥168 一年.

Also available now: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, on the same 年度会员, with 3,000 张额度 一年.

The rules on one card

What Fantasia asks of an AI film.

Fantasia is a genre festival in Montreal, and it has an explicit AI rule in its submission terms. The call is open now, with five deadlines that run to April 2027.
Festival
15 July to 1 August 2027, Montreal, 31st edition
Submissions
Open since 1 September 2026, on FilmFreeway
Deadlines
Early bird 1 December 2026, last chance 15 April 2027
Fee
Varies by deadline and category, never refunded
AI rule
Disclosure required, no ban
Eligibility
Completed in the 18 months before the edition
Premiere
Montreal premiere at the least, no worldwide online release
Notification
28 May 2027, through FilmFreeway

Source: the Submissions FAQ and the Call for entries on fantasiafestival.com, and the festival’s press release of 4 August 2026 for the 2027 dates, read on 1 October 2026. The FAQ holds a few year typos, so we follow its Important dates block. Fees are listed on FilmFreeway and were not captured.

What the rules say about AI

One paragraph, five things it means.

Fantasia's AI rule is a paragraph in the terms of its Submissions FAQ. It operates as a disclosure rule with teeth: the festival imposes no outright ban and sets no quota on AI-assisted work, but any film that breaches its ethical and legal standards faces disqualification—making transparency both expected and enforceable.

  • Disclose any use of AI

    Fantasia requires film submissions to disclose any use of AI, with emphasis on generative AI, including whether it was used during pre-production, production or post-production. Name the phase for each tool. In our reading, screenplay and storyboard are pre-production, footage is production, and edit and sound are post.

  • What gets a film disqualified

    The festival says it takes ethical and legal concerns seriously: copyright infringement, lack of artist consent, and the use of creative works to train AI models without permission or compensation. It will disqualify films that violate these standards.

  • A policy that will move

    Fantasia says its policy remains open to discussion and will evolve with developments in AI, with the aim of consistent industry standards and respect for artistic integrity. Reread the FAQ before you submit, not once.

  • What the paragraph leaves open

    The FAQ sets no ban, no share of the film that may be generated and no separate AI program. It does not define “use of AI” or say where the disclosure goes. If your case is unclear, write to the Programming Manager at submissions@fantasiafestival.com.

  • What Fantasia does not take

    The festival refuses VR and AR projects and takes no screenplay or script submissions. An AI project has to arrive as a finished film or a work-in-progress.

Key dates

Five deadlines, and the price rises each time.

Every deadline is open until its date, and all submissions are considered equally regardless of when they arrive. What changes is the fee, so an early finish saves money and gains no edge in selection or programming priority.

  1. 1 Sep 2026

    Submissions open

    FilmFreeway only. Online screeners and files sent by email are not accepted.

  2. 1 Dec 2026

    Early bird

    The cheapest bracket, two months from now.

  3. 1 Jan 2027

    Regular deadline

    The next steps are the late deadline on 10 February and the extended one on 10 March.

  4. 15 Apr 2027

    Last chance

    The final window. The festival grants no deadline waiver after it.

  5. 28 May 2027

    Notification

    Every submitter is told through FilmFreeway, selected or not. Early selections may hear sooner. The festival runs from 15 July.

Who decides

At least three viewers per film.

Fantasia publishes how a film is watched during the selection process. The answers are more precise than most festivals give, offering filmmakers real insight into screening conditions—and one of them is a warning worth heeding before you submit.

  • Three viewers, at the least

    Each film goes to at least three members of the pre-screening team. They watch it in full, rate it and write a review, and the programmers consider it afterwards.

  • Equal consideration

    All submissions are considered equally, whatever the deadline they arrive under. The early bird saves you money, not a better chance.

  • Watched once

    The festival does not watch several cuts. You can swap the link on FilmFreeway and send notes by email, but a second viewing is not promised.

  • Juries after selection

    In 2026 the jurors gave the Cheval Noir Awards, with Best Film to Nightborn, and Best Short Film to Mancave. Audience votes decided the Audience Awards separately.

Genres

A genre festival with room for the odd.

Fantasia calls itself predominantly a fantasy, action, science fiction and horror festival, one that welcomes films whose individuality makes a genre of their own. Four territories define its programming palette, and the angle we would take for each shapes how we present work that sits at the edge of category or refuses it entirely.

  • 01

    Horror

    One of the four genres the festival says it is built on.

    Generated horror lives on atmosphere. Build dread from sound and framing, not from a creature held on screen for a full minute.

  • 02

    Science fiction

    The second genre on the list, and a natural home for invented worlds.

    Worlds are what generation does best. Design one rule of the world and hold it for the whole short.

  • 03

    Fantasy and animation

    Fantasy is on the list, and the Satoshi Kon Award honours animated features.

    An animated fable fits. Keep each character identical from shot to shot: in a genre crowd, a drifting face reads as a flaw.

  • 04

    Action

    The fourth genre the festival names.

    Action exposes continuity errors first. Storyboard every beat of a fight with its direction of movement, and cut on motion.

The 2026 shorts

What Fantasia rewarded last summer.

In 2026 the juried Best Short Film went to Mancave by Fredrik S. Hana, a 23 minute Norwegian thriller. The audience gave Gold to Bruised Sky by Gary Kent from the UK, Silver to Reset and Bronze to Pimple.

  1. 01

    The juried short is a thriller. Mancave runs 23 minutes and comes from Norway: genre filmmaking from outside North America can win at Fantasia.

  2. 02

    The audience chose differently. Bruised Sky (UK), Reset (USA) and Pimple (Portugal) took the audience podium for shorts. The two systems do not reward the same film.

  3. 03

    Animation is a pillar. Blaise by Jean-Paul Guigue and Dimitri Planchon won the Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature, the first French film to do so, and Cherry and Virgin won the audience award for animation.

  4. 04

    No winner we read about was reported as an AI film. The festival requires disclosure, so a generated short can be programmed. The first one to win will have won on its writing.

Three phases, one scene

Lost Garden: a fantasy scene, phase by phase.

Fantasia asks where AI was used: pre-production, production or post. This scene comes from Lost Garden, episode 1, an animated fantasy by the 熙熙 team. The screenplay page and the storyboard frames belong to pre-production, the final image to production.

Logline. A small knight wakes up in a dead world and learns he is the last guardian of a seed that could bring the garden back.

Screenplay · episode 1 · the Source Tree

INT. HEART OF THE ROOTS - NIGHT

Living roots coil around LANTERN and pin him down. A voice stops them.

THE SOURCE TREE

Stop. He is my guest.

A giant woman of roots and white lilies opens her arms over the cavern.

Her eyes open. Blue, and vast.

THE SOURCE TREE

Welcome to you, Lantern Knight.

She lifts him in her palm, like a lamp.

THE SOURCE TREE

Do not be afraid. I will not harm you.

In the dark, a seed of light opens. Inside the flower, a sleeping child.

THE SOURCE TREE

You must find yours. Protect her.

CUT TO:

  1. A small lantern-helmed knight bound by thick roots in a ruined hall
    Storyboard frame of the trap shot, in grey
    01

    Medium · the trap

    Medium shot, Lantern bound by thick living roots in a ruined hall, glowing blue mushrooms on the floor, cold light

  2. A giant woman made of roots and white lilies spreads her many arms in a dark cavern
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    02

    Wide · the Source Tree

    Symmetrical wide shot, a giant woman made of roots, arms spread with many hands, white lilies, blue glyphs

  3. Extreme close-up of a giant pale face with piercing blue eyes
    Storyboard frame of the eyes close-up, in grey
    03

    Extreme close-up · the eyes

    Extreme close-up on the giant's face, piercing blue eyes opening, pale skin, soft light from below

  4. A tiny armored knight stands in the middle of a giant open hand
    Storyboard frame of the palm shot, in grey
    04

    High angle · the palm

    High angle, the tiny knight standing in the center of a giant open palm, stone floor far below

  5. A giant fingertip gently touches the chest of a small armored knight
    Storyboard frame of the touch close-up, in grey
    05

    Close-up · the touch

    Close-up, a giant fingertip gently touches the knight's armored chest, faceless helm, emotion through posture

  6. A sleeping pink-haired child curled inside a glowing blue flower
    Storyboard frame of the seed insert, in grey
    06

    Insert · the seed

    Top-down insert, a glowing pale blue flower opening, a sleeping child with pink hair curled inside

Lost Garden, episode 1 lasts 17 minutes and reached the finals of the AI London Festival. A giant woman of roots and lilies is the creature design a fantasy crowd comes for, and the kind a disclosure line should explain. Press play: the player starts on this scene.

The script

A 12 minute genre short in four movements.

The FAQ sets no length for shorts, and credits count in the runtime. Aim for about 12 minutes: 12 screenplay pages and 100 to 130 shots of 5 to 7 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 0:40

    The hook

    Pre-screeners write a review of every film. Give them an image and a question to write about in the first forty seconds.

  2. 0:40 to 3:00

    The rule of the nightmare

    State what is wrong with this world and how it hurts. Genre runs on a rule the audience can anticipate and fear.

  3. 3:00 to 9:30

    The turn

    Break the rule once. Let one scene run on sound alone.

  4. 9:30 to 12:00

    The sting

    End on the worst consequence, then the credits, which count in the runtime.

A film in a language other than English or French needs English or French subtitles to be considered. French subtitles are always appreciated.

Week by week

From now to 1 January.

The early bird closes on 1 December 2026. This plan aims at the regular deadline of 1 January 2027 and keeps the early bird for a film that is ready sooner.
  1. 01

    Week of 1 October

    Write the disclosure first

    Before any frame exists, list what AI will do in pre-production, in production and in post. Fantasia wants those three phases named.

  2. 02

    Weeks of 8 and 15 October

    Screenplay

    Twelve pages in the free 熙熙 editor. One situation, one rule of the world, one ending.

  3. 03

    November 2026

    Storyboard and references

    Storyboard every shot with its framing and movement, and fix the creature and the place. Check that no reference copies a living artist: lack of artist consent is a ground for disqualification.

  4. 04

    Mid November to mid December

    Footage

    Generate shot after shot with Seedance in 熙熙, and record each model and version for the disclosure.

  5. 05

    Late December 2026

    Edit, sound, subtitles

    Cut, mix and subtitle in English or French if needed. Export one complete version: the festival watches it once.

  6. 06

    1 January 2027

    Submit on FilmFreeway

    Fill in the form with the disclosure ready and upload the final cut. Pay once, for the right deadline and category: fees are never refunded.

Ways to be turned down

Eight ways a generated film is turned down.

Fantasia is firm on honesty and on the practical rules. Check every point before you pay: the fee does not come back.

  • A vague disclosure

    “We used AI” says little. Fantasia asks whether AI was used in pre-production, production or post-production. List the tool, the phase and the task.

  • Work taken without consent

    The policy names the use of creative works to train AI models without permission or compensation. Read each tool’s terms, and avoid prompts that name a living artist.

  • Trademarks and copyrighted material

    If selected, everything shown on screen, trademarks and copyrighted material included, is the filmmaker’s responsibility. A generated shot can add a logo you never asked for. Check frame by frame.

  • Releasing the film online

    A film made available for public viewing online worldwide becomes ineligible. Screenings for cast and crew do not count, and stills, trailers and clips are fine. Wait for the answer before you publish the film.

  • A film older than 18 months

    Only films completed in the 18 months before the edition are eligible for general programming. A film that sat unseen can still qualify: write to the festival.

  • Sending a script

    Fantasia takes no screenplay submissions and no VR or AR projects. Send a film or a work-in-progress.

  • The wrong category

    Canadian, International or Asian: the category follows the countries of the director, producer and financing, and the FAQ lists the Asian countries. Check it before you pay a non-refundable fee.

  • Changing the cut after you submit

    Pre-screeners watch one version. A work-in-progress is accepted only if it represents the finished film, so send your most complete cut.

Why 熙熙

Disclosure by phase suits a project built by phase.

Fantasia wants to know what AI touched before, during and after the shoot. 熙熙 organises the work the same way, in one connected project.

  • Pre-production on the record

    The screenplay, the outline and the storyboard sit in one project, so the pre-production part of your disclosure is a description of what is already there.

  • Production you can trace

    Each shot keeps its prompt and its references, so you can say which scenes were generated and which were not.

  • A creature that stays itself

    Characters, locations and references carry from shot to shot, so a monster does not change shape between two cuts.

  • Free to start

    Write at no cost on the 免费档, with no time limit. The 年度会员, ¥168 一年, brings the storyboard and Seedance video generation shot by shot.

Real productions

International festival-recognized films have been written and produced with 熙熙.

熙熙 is already being used as a creative workspace for real AI film productions, from cinematic shorts to animated series pilots selected, nominated, and awarded by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place 熙熙

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • Award Winner

      Seoul International AI Film Festival

  • Video thumbnail for Les Fils du Vinnana

    Les Fils du Vinnana

    AI short film

    Festival recognition

    • Honorable Mention

      Top Quark Film Festival

    • People's Choice Nominee

      Illuminate Oneness of Humanity

    • Nominee

      ALTFF Supershort

  • Video thumbnail for Lost Garden

    Lost Garden

    AI animated series pilot

    Festival recognition

    • Finalist

      AI London Festival

See what creators are building

The pipeline

Write. Board. Produce.

  1. 熙熙 screenplay editor: acts, sequences and beats above the formatted script of The Yellow Umbrella

    01The screenplay, enriched

    An industry-standard screenplay editor, and more: a visual outline and beat editor, your writing inspirations (notes, photos, audio) kept next to the page, and an AI researcher to support your writing, not replace it.

  2. 熙熙 storyboard: shot S3 of The Yellow Umbrella with characters, shot settings and the script beside it

    02The storyboard, made easy

    Shot breakdown generated from your screenplay, manual control over every shot (frame, angle, movement, duration), and generative AI previsualization in one click.

  3. 熙熙 production canvas: shots S3 and S4 as connected nodes carrying their storyboard panels and prompts

    03AI production, with finesse

    Footage generation pipelines connected to your screenplay and storyboard. Optimized out of the box, fully editable workflow.

More AI film festivals

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for genre films

FAQ

Fantasia and AI films, your questions

Can you submit an AI film to Fantasia?
Yes. Fantasia requires submissions to disclose any use of AI, with emphasis on generative AI, and does not ban it. Films that violate its ethical and legal standards are disqualified. Submissions are open until 15 April 2027.
What does Fantasia’s AI policy say?
Submissions must disclose any use of AI, with emphasis on generative AI, in pre-production, production or post-production. The policy cites copyright infringement, lack of artist consent and training on creative works without permission, and says it will evolve.
Where do I disclose AI use?
The FAQ does not say where. Submissions go through FilmFreeway, so check the form there, and write to submissions@fantasiafestival.com if unsure. Prepare a written note by phase either way.
When are the deadlines?
Early bird 1 December 2026, regular 1 January 2027, late 10 February, extended 10 March and last chance 15 April 2027. Notification is on 28 May 2027. All submissions are considered equally.
What is the entry fee?
The fee depends on the deadline and the category and is listed on FilmFreeway. It is never refunded and there are no fee waivers. We did not capture the amounts.
What premiere status is required?
At the least a Montreal premiere, with more leniency for Quebec films. World and international premieres get more coverage and are likelier to reach the competitions. A film available for public online viewing worldwide is ineligible.
How old can the film be?
Completed in the 18 months before the edition. A film completed earlier but never shown publicly may still qualify: write to the festival to check.
Which genres does Fantasia want?
It is predominantly a fantasy, action, science fiction and horror festival, and it welcomes films whose individuality makes a genre of their own. The next edition runs from 15 July to 1 August 2027 in Montreal.

Two months to the early bird. Start with the page.

Write the screenplay free today and note which phase each AI tool touches. Storyboard is the next step, and Seedance footage follows in the same project.
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