Artefact AI Film Festival: Winners of the 2nd Edition Revealed

February 12, 2026, Paris, France – The Artefact AI Film Festival with mk2 unveils the winners of its second edition during the awards ceremony held in Paris. Chaired by Cédric Klapisch, the festival confirms its role as an international platform dedicated to new forms of cinematographic creation in the age of artificial intelligence.

After a founding first edition in 2024, this second edition marks a new step for the festival, which gathered 265 entries from 52 countries, including 20 finalist films in official competition. The selected works explored the theme “(Dis)play”, questioning play, interfaces, visible and invisible rules, as well as the biases that shape our relationship with images and contemporary narratives.

Grand Prize: The Cinema that Never Was by Mark Wachholz

A magnificent tribute to cinema and filmmaking. This film offers a deep and accomplished reflection on our relationship with images and stories that never existed, set against a backdrop of images disturbing in their beauty and realism. €10,000 Prize, awarding the best film across all categories.

Jury Prize ex aequo: Hard Dayzzz by Max De Donato and Roped by Cokau Lab

Two works rewarded for the singularity of their cinematographic language and a narrative audacity that transports the viewer into their respective universes. For both Roped and Hard Dayzzz, one forgets the technology to dive into the story. €1,000 Prize, awarded ex aequo for cinematographic quality and originality.

Public Prize: Arrow by Jiaze Li

The film that was unanimously acclaimed by the audience and leaves you wanting to see more. A singular visual language, breathless pacing, and mastered visuals skillfully punctuate this questioning of the line between reality and simulation in the age of artificial intelligence. €1,000 Prize, awarded to the film with the most public votes.

Artefact Prize – Best Use of AI: La Tisseuse d’Ombre by Anne Horel

Rewarded for the most relevant and creative use of artificial intelligence, La Tisseuse d’Ombre relies on personal collages and public domain illustrations to deliver a tale exploring identity, memory, and the place of humans in the era of image standardization. This prize is accompanied by support for the development of a future film.

French Touch Prize: Field Notes by Ariel Kotzer

Distinguished for the creativity of its approach, this experimental film plays opposite ChatGPT, which becomes the screenwriter, prompter, and co-director of the project. A writing of rare poetry that leads us to question the nature of this everyday tool.

Paris Aéroport Prize: Le Temps d’un Souvenir by Alix André-Kellershohn

A poetic film of rare sensitivity, rewarded for the quality of its writing and its universal approach to the relationship with memory and the passing of time. €1,000 Prize, awarded to the creation that takes the viewer to other worlds, allowing them to escape and dream.

Through these awards, the jury distinguished films that place AI at the service of a strong artistic vision, where narrative, emotion, and formal experimentation remain at the heart of the approach.

The jury for this second edition was composed of: Cédric Klapisch, director, screenwriter, and producer – President of the jury for the 2nd edition Ana Girardot, actress Junie Lau, director and winner of the first edition of the Artefact AI Film Festival Jérémy Boxer, artistic director and filmmaker Raphaël Frydman, director and winner of the first edition of the Artefact AI Film Festival Paul Trillo, director and screenwriter Bruno Patino, President of ARTE Elisha Karmitz, CEO of mk2 Anna Apter, actress, director, and screenwriter Pierre Zandrowicz, director

Cédric Klapisch, director, screenwriter, and producer, President of the 2nd edition of the festival: “The first thing that struck me after watching these films was their relationship to surrealism. You can feel how much the dialogue with an AI pushes one to experiment with a relationship to the absurd. By wanting to travel to impossible territories, the stories and images often explore the frontiers of the unreal.”

Elisha Karmitz, CEO of mk2: “This edition of the Artefact AI Film Festival marks significant progress compared to last year, both formally and narratively. The films demonstrate greater artistic maturity and tackle more complex, more embodied subjects. AI is no longer just a tool but a subject of reflection in its own right for the artists who seize it. It clearly appears that the value of these technologies does not lie in the tools themselves, but in the meaning they take on when placed at the service of artists and their stories.”

Vincent Luciani, Co-founder and CEO of Artefact: “Artificial intelligence is profoundly transforming audiovisual creation, democratizing access to technical tools while raising the level of creative standards. It is a new paradigm where technology becomes a creative partner, allowing artists to explore narrative territories hitherto inaccessible. By enriching the creative process without ever substituting the artist’s eye, AI offers unprecedented freedom. This ability to push the boundaries of the possible has made this festival an unmissable event for all creators who care about imagining the cinema of tomorrow.”

Partners of the second edition: For this second edition, the Artefact AI Film Festival relied on the commitment of major partners in creation and innovation. Bpifrance, through La French Touch, supports talents reinventing artistic forms in the era of emerging technologies, while Paris Aéroport is committed to promoting French culture and art across borders. Arte, the festival’s cultural partner, contributes to the valorization of new audiovisual writings, and Google, official partner for the second consecutive year, reaffirms its commitment alongside the creative community facing the new possibilities offered by generative AI. The festival also benefits from the support of Chanel.

About the Artefact AI Film Festival with mk2: The Artefact AI Film Festival is a unique initiative launched by Artefact, an international reference in data and artificial intelligence, and mk2, the leading art-house cinema group in France. This international competition is open to all, established filmmakers or novices, and aims to showcase talents exploring new creative processes using AI tools. The theme of this second edition, titled “(Dis)play”, invites participants to dive into the playful and experimental universe of artificial intelligence: children’s games, role-playing games, or word games.

For more information: Official website: https://artefact-ai-film-festival.com

About Artefact: Artefact is a French consulting and engineering firm, a European leader in data and AI, present in 25 countries with 1,700 employees. Based in Paris, the company supports organizations and individuals in the responsible and creative adoption of these technologies to generate a positive impact, developing impact-driven solutions from strategy to operations to meet the specific challenges of each sector. Artefact collaborates with major international groups in all key sectors and is actively committed to ethical and accessible AI.

About mk2: Founded in 1974, mk2 is one of the main independent cinema groups in Europe, operating a network of prestigious theaters, a recognized international production and distribution company (Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, Kaizen by Inoxtag), as well as an integrated creative and media agency. The group operates 23 cinemas in France and Spain, totaling 7 million spectators per year. As the leading art-house circuit in France, it defends programming that blends auteur cinema, mainstream films, and cultural events, driven by three values: selection, otherness, and transmission. Its 12 Parisian cinemas welcome more than 4 million spectators per year, representing a 22.2% market share in the capital. Every year, 500 events are organized there, and the offer is complemented by 7 restaurants and cafes and 1 Cinema-Hotel (Hotel Paradiso). For over 20 years, the mk2 Bibliothèque cinema, the group’s flagship, has established itself as a place of innovation and cultural experimentation. In 2016, mk2 notably launched the mk2 VR there, the first permanent space dedicated to virtual reality in Europe, thus affirming its role as a pioneer in immersive experiences and new forms of storytelling.