Cinema St. Louis Bans Generative AI from Its Film Festivals Starting 2027

Cinema St. Louis has announced that its two flagship events — the St. Louis International Film Festival and the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase — will no longer accept films that used generative AI in their creation, effective 2027. The policy draws a clear line between generative tools (which conjure images or sound from text prompts) and AI embedded in standard editing software, which the organization acknowledges is essentially unavoidable. "When you create that shirt out of nothing, that is what is not allowed," said Emmett Williams, the organization's festival curation and education director.

The decision was partly catalyzed by the July 2026 screening of "Anomaly," a short film by St. Louis filmmaker Jack Snyder in which all visuals were AI-generated, though human voice actors and a sound designer were employed. Opponents of generative AI cited copyright concerns around training data, quality issues, environmental costs, and the threat to skilled film workers. Paul Hubbard, organizer of the horror showcase Hysteria Fest and a key voice in shaping the policy, called generative AI "a cheap shortcut that's actually going to make your film worse."