Cannes AI film festival controversy rises

The World AI Film Festival staged its 2026 edition at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals on April 21 and 22, days after Cannes drew a line against generative AI in official competition. (worldaifilmfestival.com) (festival-cannes.com) Cannes announced its 2026 Official Selection on April 9 in Paris, with president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux presenting the lineup for the May 12-23 festival. (festival-cannes.com) (screendaily.com) Cannes’ published 2026 regulations do not mention artificial intelligence by name, but they do require rights-holders to guarantee they control screening rights and to provide documents if a third party challenges those rights. (festival-cannes.com) At the April 9 press conference, Knobloch said a film is “a personal vision” and that artificial intelligence can imitate but not feel, according to Associated Press video from the event. (youtube.com 1) (youtube.com 2) WAIFF presented itself less as a fringe screening than as a parallel circuit. Its site listed Gong Li as festival president, Claude Lelouch as honorary president and Agnès Jaoui as jury president. (worldaifilmfestival.com) The event also said it had set up satellite festivals in Japan, Korea, China and Brazil, and described two official evenings at the Palais built around international AI-made work. (worldaifilmfestival.com) At the same time, Cannes’ business side is moving deeper into artificial intelligence. Marché du Film’s AI for Talent Summit returns on May 15 and 16 as an invite-only meeting for executives, investors and senior technology professionals. (marchedufilm.com) (deadline.com) Deadline reported the summit is in its second year and will focus on AI in production workflows, ethics and education, while Variety said the market is folding those sessions into a broader push around creators, immersive media and online dealmaking. (deadline.com) (variety.com) That leaves Cannes with a split structure in 2026: AI is welcome in side events and market programming, but the Official Selection still centers films whose authorship and rights can be defended under existing festival rules. (marchedufilm.com) (festival-cannes.com) The next test comes in May, when buyers, producers and festival programmers will decide whether AI-made projects stay in parallel showcases like WAIFF or move closer to Cannes’ main pipeline. (worldaifilmfestival.com) (marchedufilm.com)