World AI Film Festival Returns to Cannes With 14 Awards and High-Profile Jury

The second edition of the World AI Film Festival (WAiFF) took place across four venues in Cannes on April 21–22, 2026, cementing AI-generated cinema's presence at one of the world's most prestigious film destinations. The two-day event distributed fourteen awards, drew nearly thirty partners, and featured a notable roster of cultural figures: Gong Li served as festival president, Claude Lelouch as honorary president, Agnès Jaoui led the jury, and Jean-Michel Jarre took on the role of ambassador.

Organizers positioned the festival as a turning point—a signal that AI cinema has moved from novelty to recognized art form on the global stage. The scale-up from the first edition, both in venues and in the prominence of attached figures, underlines growing institutional appetite for AI filmmaking within traditional cinema circles.