Non è vero, ma ci credo.
It's not real, but I believe it.
25-27 February 2027 Provisional dates First Italian edition
Generated. GPT image. Show the trick
At the cinema you know it isn't real, and you believe it anyway. At WAIFF Napoli every film says how it was made.
First Italian edition
The World AI Film Festival comes to Naples in February 2027. A competition in five sections for films made with artificial intelligence tools, an Industry Day, and a closing night with awards and a gala.
Four commitments
- An author.
- Consent.
- Transparency.
- Work.
Show the trick
On set, green is where cinema puts what isn't there. A city. A storm. Another century. The audience knows it, and believes it anyway.
The people in the opening image don't exist. The image is generated and we say so underneath, because that's what we ask of every film. Drag the screen and see how it was made.
Generated. GPT image.
- The screen and the towers come from the earlier image. Under the screen we painted everything grey and generated the people again.
- The screen is carried. Its dark beam rests on long rough wooden poles, and the poles rest on the shoulders of the row of people standing right under it, near us. […] the only thing that holds the screen up is that row of shoulders.
- The crowd was walking and it looked like a march. So we stopped them, between takes.
- People standing still between takes, the screen on their shoulders, the band playing. The screen stays empty because the films aren't here yet.
This is the production journal of our opening image.
The fifty opening steps on this page are a reconstruction computed by your browser. Visio prepared these examples with AI tools, choices included, while we wait for the real films.
The full production journalFive sections to fill the screen.
The frame on the screen is a test, and it's generated too. This is where the real films go.
Generated. GPT image.
For films made with artificial intelligence tools and for hybrid films.
Short film
Best AI Short Film 3 to under 40 minutes
Feature film
Best AI Feature Film 40 minutes or more
Microdrama
Best AI Micro Series Vertical 9:16, 4 to 6 episodes, 30 seconds to under 3 minutes per episode
Animated short film
Best Animation Short Film 3 to under 40 minutes
Commercials and branded content
Best AI Advertising & Branded Content 30 seconds to 5 minutes
€10 entry fee per film.
Five jury members. Names to be announced.
Running times and fee as announced to date. The shapes of the screens are for illustration only. The only format required so far is the 9:16 of the microdrama.
See the competitionFrom Naples to the Palais des Festivals.
Submissions more than tripled in a year.
Over 5,400 submissions from 80 countries 2026
Over 1,500 submissions 2025
International editions of the World AI Film Festival, figures reported by the organiser. Sources are the official WAIFF 2026 programme, p. 10, and the WAIFF 2025 sponsor document.
The films awarded in Naples will go on to the WAIFF Grand Finale at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, where they will be screened.
WAIFF Napoli is the only Italian stop on a circuit that runs through ten cities and ends with the Grand Finale.
In 2026 Gong Li was president, Agnès Jaoui chaired the jury, Claude Lelouch was honorary president and Jean-Michel Jarre was ambassador. They belong to the international edition, and none of them has been announced for Naples.
Follow the Road to Cannes
No one carries a screen like this alone.
Generated. GPT image.
We're looking for companies and institutions to carry it with us. A brand's place is the black strip beneath the screen. The screen stays with the films.
Become a partnerWAIFF Napoli is organised by 2WATCH Group, WAIFF and Giffoni Innovation Hub, based on a format by Institut EuropIA, under the patronage of the City of Naples and in collaboration with the City and the Fondazione Film Commission Regione Campania.
Giffoni Innovation Hub began in 2015 as a spin-off of the innovation department of the Giffoni Film Festival.
Meet the organisersGuests and partners of the Giffoni Film Festival, 1971-2026
The Giffoni Film Festival does not organise WAIFF Napoli.
The story of the Giffoni Film Festival
The screen is still empty. See you in Naples.
Generated. GPT image.