AIFJ2026 Runs October 31 To November 2 With Alibaba Cloud, CapCut, ElevenLabs
The first edition's 563 entries from more than 45 countries give the festival a working baseline, and the second edition adds sponsor-funded awards, production sessions, and industry dialogue on top of the screening and ceremony format.
Reporting from 1 source: GameBusiness.jp.
AI Film Japan announced on September 7 that the second AI Film Festival Japan will run from Saturday, October 31 to Monday, November 2, 2026, centered on Tokyo Innovation Base. Alibaba Cloud backs the Creative Foundry and Industry Forum; CapCut and ElevenLabs each establish a sponsored special award inside the existing judging system. The first edition drew 563 works from more than 45 countries and regions.
The second edition keeps the screening and awards ceremony at its center and adds two more layers around it: hands-on production programs for creators and a forum for the industry side. Alibaba Cloud backs both the Creative Foundry sessions and the Industry Forum, where IP holders, advertising, media, and technology stakeholders will work through AI use cases and business adoption, with booth exhibitions and product demos planned during the main festival period.
CapCut and ElevenLabs each fund a special award. Both sit inside the existing judging system as cross-category awards rather than separate competitions, decided from the finalists selected in regular judging. ElevenLabs joins as 2026 Responsible AI Voice Partner, and its award weighs how voice expression served narrative depth, character expression, acting, localization, and the viewing experience.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.