Shaike.ai

Submission until August 31 2025

The Naija Artificial Intelligence Film Festival (NAIFF) is dedicated to spotlighting a new generation of filmmakers harnessing the power of AI to create groundbreaking cinematic experiences. As AI continues to reshape storytelling, NAIFF serves as a platform to celebrate innovation, creativity, and the limitless possibilities of AI-powered filmmaking.

Trailer

Event schedule

Awards

AI Short Form Film (Africa Only)

Focus: Encourages compact, powerful storytelling through AI, recognizing films made using AI in story development, animation, or editing. Eligible Formats: Narrative shorts, animated clips, AI-enhanced micro-films. Duration: 1–4 minutes. Target Audience: Filmmakers using AI to tell tight, impactful stories within short timelines.

AI Long Form Film (Africa Only)

Focus: Honors films that utilize AI for scripting, visuals, voice, or storytelling in extended formats. Eligible Formats: AI-powered featurettes, docudramas, cinematic narratives, or long-form animation. Duration: 5 minutes and above.

AI Documentary (Africa Only)

Focus: Recognizes outstanding documentary-style films created or enhanced using AI tools, exploring real-world themes, people, and places. Eligible Formats: AI-edited documentaries, AI-narrated docuseries, data-driven visuals, or hybrid AI-real footage. Duration: Up to 15 minutes. Target Audience: Creators using AI to explore real-life stories that educate, inform, or inspire.

AI Animated Film (Africa Only)

Focus: Celebrates short animated films made using AI for character design, scene animation, or motion. Both fully or partially animated entries are welcome. Examples: Using tools like Kaiber, Pika, Runway, or similar. End credits must note tools used. Duration: Under 15 minutes. Target Audience: Animators and creatives leveraging AI for visual storytelling through animation.

Hybrid AI Film (Live Action + AI) (Africa Only)

Focus: For films that combine traditional filmmaking with AI elements, such as AI-edited footage, AI voiceover, or AI-enhanced visuals. Disclosure: Submissions should describe how AI was integrated. Behind-the-scenes notes or examples are encouraged. Duration: Under 25 minutes. Target Audience: Filmmakers exploring the synergy between conventional production and AI tools.

AI Music Video (Africa Only)

Focus: Celebrates music videos produced using AI-generated visuals, lyrics, sound effects, or entirely AI-crafted audio. It’s a fusion of Nigeria’s vibrant music culture with futuristic visuals. Eligible Formats: AI animations synced to music, AI-stylized lyric videos, AI audio compositions with visuals. Duration: Up to 5 minutes. Target Audience: Artists and creatives blending sound and visuals using AI to produce compelling music video content.

AI Experimental (Africa Only)

Focus: Spotlights avant-garde, abstract, or genre-defying films made with AI, ideal for those pushing creative or technical boundaries. Eligible Formats: AI glitch visuals, surreal scenes, dreamscapes, immersive sound/visual experiments. Duration: Up to 5 minutes. Target Audience: Artists exploring radical or unconventional uses of AI in storytelling or visuals.

AI Folktale Creators (Africa Only)

Focus: Honors creators using AI to bring African folktales, legends, myths, and traditional proverbs to life, especially through short-form platforms. Promotes cultural pride and the reimagining of African identity. Eligible Formats: Animated AI folktales, voiceover or narrated AI visuals, visualizations of proverbs, idioms, or traditional lessons. Duration: 1–10 minutes. Target Audience: Creatives using AI to retell African stories in a way that educates, entertains, and preserves identity. Target Audience: Artists exploring radical or unconventional uses of AI in storytelling or visuals.

Shortform Creators (Under 60 Seconds) (Africa Only)

Focus: For AI-generated content under 60 seconds from punchy reels to viral memes or skits, encouraging quick, creative bursts of AI storytelling for social media. Eligible Formats: AI-powered reels, skits, transitions, remix culture, or AI-enhanced one-liners. Duration: Under 60 seconds. Target Audience: Creators using AI to deliver fast, clever, and culturally relevant content in under a minute.

AI for Education – Best Children’s Content (Africa Only)

Focus: Celebrates fun, creative, and culturally relevant educational content for children using AI, supporting edutainment that nurtures and teaches the next generation. Eligible Formats: AI-generated rhymes, storybooks, educational shorts, or interactive visuals for kids. Duration: Up to 5 minutes. Target Audience: Educators and creatives using AI to build fun, informative, and culturally grounded content for kids.

International AI Films (Outside Africa)

Focus:International creators using AI tools for digital storytelling, skits, or visual content. Open to TikTokers, YouTubers, and IG creators using AI creatively. Duration: 1-10 minutes total runtime for all submitted videos. Target Audience: AI Filmmakers outside of Africa.

AI Student Film Makers (Africa Only)

Focus: Open to young creatives (ages 18–25) who use AI in fresh and visionary ways. Encourages emerging voices and supports future filmmakers. Eligibility: Must be currently enrolled in a secondary school, university, or film school. Proof of student status (ID or letter) is required. Eligible Formats: Any genre or format from shorts to experiments to music videos, as long as AI played a key creative role. Target Audience: Young creators showcasing promise, curiosity, and a unique voice in AI-powered storytelling.

AI for Gender Equity

Focus: Celebrates short animate films made using AI for social justice and gender equity. End credits must note tools used. Duration: Under 15 minutes. Target Audience: Impact Filmmakers in Africa.

Terms and Conditions

General Submission Rules & Regulations (For All Categories)

Adherence to these rules is crucial for all submissions to the Naija AI Film Festival. Failure to comply may lead to disqualification.
1. Submission Platform: All entries must be submitted exclusively via FilmFreeway. Submissions are free of charge.
2. Production Date: Submissions must have been completed within the last 24 months of the submission deadline.
3. Film Duration: Films must not exceed the maximum length stated for their respective categories.
4. Language & Subtitles: All films must be in English or include clear English subtitles. Submissions in Pidgin, Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo and French are highly encouraged and welcomed.
5. Originality & Content Rights: All entries must be original work and must not infringe on any copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property. Submitting filmmakers must own or have secured full rights to use all visuals, audio, and AI-generated content within their film.
6. AI Tool Disclosure (Mandatory Transparency):
– Every submission must clearly disclose what AI tools were used (e.g., ChatGPT, Runway, MidJourney, Pika, Sora, ElevenLabs, etc.).
– Filmmakers must also explain how these tools were used (e.g., for scriptwriting, animation, audio, voiceovers, editing, sound design, visual effects).
– Submissions without full AI disclosure may be disqualified.
– For AI Short Films, a short note explaining tools used (e.g., ChatGPT for script, RunwayML for visuals) must be included.
– For AI Animated Films, end credits must note tools used.
– For Hybrid AI Films, behind-the-scenes notes or examples are encouraged.
– For AI Content Creators Showcase, a short statement of tools used is required.
7. Student Film Verification: Submissions for the “AI Student / Youth Visionary Award” must include a valid student ID or proof of enrollment.
8. Multiple Submissions: Multiple film submissions from the same creator are allowed, but each film must be submitted separately and in a different category.
9. Screening Rights: By submitting a film, the creator grants the festival permission to publicly screen their film and use it for promotional purposes.

A submission will be disqualified if:
– It includes plagiarized content.
– There is non-disclosure of AI usage.
– It contains harmful, discriminatory, or explicit content without artistic or cultural justification.

How to Submit Your Film
– Each entry submitted via FilmFreeway or the official festival website must include:
– A synopsis (maximum 200 words).
– Directors Note.
– A comprehensive list of AI tools used and their application.
– Names of all team members or collaborators.
– 2–3 behind-the-scenes stills or process images (optional, but encouraged for promotion & publicity).

Judging Criteria
Films will be evaluated based on the following criteria, with weights reflecting their importance:
– Creativity & Storytelling 30%
– Use of AI Tools 25%
– Cultural Relevance & Identity 20%
– Visual & Auditory Appeal 15%
– Emotional / Social Impact 10%

All films will be judged within their relevant category context (e.g., cultural storytelling, music visuals, educational value, experimentation).