ATLANTA IMMERSION – AI & EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL
Step Into the Deep End of Independent Film
July 2026 – Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta Immersion is the city’s most unconventional film festival - a showcase for filmmakers, digital artists, and creative misfits who are redefining what short film can be through experimentation and technology.

It’s a home for fully AI-generated work, human-machine collaborations, and boundary-pushing projects in abstract narrative, unconventional animation, hybrid documentary, and mixed media.

If your film is too weird, too abstract, too tech-driven, or just doesn’t belong anywhere else, it belongs here.

We’re looking for shorts that challenge form, mess with structure, and bend genre. Whether made with code, crafted on instinct, or pieced together from beautiful chaos, we want the films that don’t play by the rules. Think surreal storytelling, poetic docs, abstract animation, or AI-powered visuals that other festivals wouldn’t touch.

It’s a full day and night of screenings, filmmaker Q&As, panels, and connection, all wrapped in the energy of a party.

We end the night with a celebration where creators connect, trade ideas, swap battle stories, and embrace the kind of work that thrives outside the mainstream.

We’re back for year two. The floodgates are open.
Atlanta Immersion started as Atlanta’s independent AI film festival. Now it’s something bigger. We’re celebrating all forms of experimental short film - whether made with code, cameras, instinct, or pure chaos. If your short breaks the rules, twists reality, or doesn’t fit the formula, submit it now.

Now accepting:
AI-generated films
Experimental stories that break all the rules
Genre-bending animation
Nonfiction reimagined as art
Music videos with brains, heart, or a machine in charge
Hybrid creations that don’t fit anywhere else

Awards & Prizes

AWARDS & PRIZES – ATLANTA IMMERSION – AI & EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL

Atlanta Immersion honors films and creators who break things on purpose: structure, tools, genres, expectations. These awards recognize the best of AI, experimental, and hybrid cinema.

Best Short
Top overall honor. Awarded to the most exceptional film with a unique vision, strong execution, and lasting impact.

Best Narrative
For storytelling that hits hard, whether emotional, nonlinear, poetic, or strange.

Innovation Award
Given to the film that pushes the edge with standout use of AI, technology, or experimental technique.

The Mindbender
Awarded to the film that gets under your skin. Surreal, disorienting, unforgettable.

Creator of the Year
Presented to a standout artist whose work, on screen or across multiple projects, defines the spirit of Atlanta Immersion. Risk-taker. Rule-breaker. Original thinker.

Audience Choice
Voted on by the crowd during the live event.

Each award winner receives a custom crystal trophy - a physical reminder that your strange, rule-breaking film found its place.

Rules & Terms

RULES & TERMS – ATLANTA IMMERSION – AI & EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL

Submission Format:
We accept short films up to 20 minutes in length. All genres and styles are welcome. Projects must be experimental in nature - this includes AI-generated or AI-assisted work, as well as traditional experimental, abstract, or hybrid formats.

AI Usage (if applicable):
If your film involves AI, please include a short note on which tools you used and how they were integrated (for example: Runway for visuals, ChatGPT for script, ElevenLabs for voiceover). This helps us understand and properly contextualize your work.

Premiere Status:
Premieres are not required. Previously screened work is welcome as long as it is eligible for public exhibition.

Language:
If your film is not in English, it must include English subtitles.

Exhibition Format:
Selected films must be delivered in high-resolution digital format (MP4 preferred) and ready for live projection.

Rights & Permissions:
By submitting, you confirm that you hold all necessary rights to the content in your film, including music, visuals, and AI-generated assets. You grant Atlanta Immersion the right to exhibit your work during the 2026 event and to promote it across our channels.

Festival Participation:
Filmmakers with selected work are encouraged to attend the live event in Atlanta in July 2026.
6 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Aaron Sean Umanoff

    Honored to have my project Custom Made - The Royal Council selected for Atlanta Immersion. Great communication from event staff. Very professional!

    May 2025
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  • Athanasios Ntavlouros

    The experience was amazing. Our trip from thousands of miles away totally worth it, just because of the festival alone. Cozy, so American-ish atmosphere we had never experienced before and of course the discussion on stage was the best. An eternity could cover the length of a full discussion :)
    Thank you.

    May 2025
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  • Hyun Cheol PARK

    It was such a joy to have The Christmas Operation screened at the Atlanta Immersion: AI Film & Media Festival.
    Though I couldn’t be there in person, my heart was definitely there with you all.
    Thank you so much for the invitation! :)

    May 2025
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  • Jesse Torres

    The inaugural Atlanta Immersion film festival was a thrill to attend. There were so many great diverse projects and unique perspectives. The films being shown in some ways transcended traditional film and felt as though we were sharing dreams. In no other time have projects of this unique nature been able to be shared and it really is starting to reveal what is possible with these new technologies. Atlanta Immersion was an experience I will never forget.

    May 2025
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  • james jones

    Well run DIY event, good venue, friendly staff, good questions from the audience during the panel discussion, and met some great creatives. An honor to have my work screened and to see the audience reaction.

    May 2025
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