AI-made films hit a New York cinema screen. Richie Hosein presented the award for best use of AI.

Films made with artificial intelligence got a real cinema screen in New York on Sunday, Oct. 25, when the first Future Reality AI Film Festival held its finalist screenings and awards night at Village East by Angelika in the East Village.

The festival was presented by the SoHo International Film Festival and HXR, a Harvard-rooted community of technologists and creators, according to the festival. Its open call drew 1,762 films from more than 60 countries and regions, organizers said. The SoHo International Film Festival is in its 17th edition this year, according to the festival’s FilmFreeway listing.

The awards. The festival gave 10 awards, judged by 25 jurors, according to its website. Categories ranged from best film and best narrative to best music and sound, best costume design, best worldbuilding and best creative use of AI.

The winners. “WILL,” directed by Alejandro Gabriel Damiani and Marcelo Damiani, won Best Film, according to the festival and the film’s studio, Aparato.tv, which said the short was made entirely with AI. “BOUSSADIA,” a film rooted in Tunisian folklore, won Best Costume Design and Best Worldbuilding, its director, Zoubeir Jlassi, said. “Hallucination Products,” directed by Thiago Espeche and Ammiel Fazzari, was also among the winners, the festival said.

On stage. Richie Hosein presented the award for Best Creative Use of AI. The winner was “Wallet Wars.” “AI is real. It’s here,” Hosein told the audience, according to the event video.

The pitch. The festival said it was looking for “great filmmaking, bold imagination” and “AI used with intention,” and that technical complexity alone was not a selection criterion. “We believe AI should not replace imagination. It should expand what filmmakers are able to imagine,” organizers wrote.

The jury. Grand jurors included cinematographer Kees van Oostrum, a former president of the American Society of Cinematographers, and digital artist GMUNK, who worked on the visual design of “TRON: Legacy” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” according to the event page.

Why it matters. AI tools are moving quickly into film and advertising. A festival backed by a 17-year-old New York film festival put that work in front of a theater audience and judged it on story and craft, not just technology.