Create a 5-Minute AI Film in Dubai for a Chance to Win $1 Million

DUBAI: Got a story to tell and know your way around AI tools? A competition in Dubai is offering a $1 million grand prize, and you do not need to be a professional filmmaker or famous content creator to enter.

The AI Film Award is open to anyone aged 18 or older from the UAE and around the world.

To join, participants need to create an original five to seven-minute film using AI technology and submit their entry by November 20, 2026.

The winning film will receive $1 million, or around Dh3.67 million.

The competition is part of the 1 Billion Followers Summit, which will return to Dubai from January 8 to 10, 2027.

You don’t need to be a professional filmmaker

The competition is open worldwide, making it an interesting opportunity for UAE residents, including Filipinos who enjoy making videos, experimenting with AI, writing stories or creating content online.

You don’t need an established social media following to enter.

However, there are technical requirements.

Your finished film must be between five and seven minutes long, and at least 70% must be generated using Seedance, an AI video-generation tool from ByteDance.

Other AI and editing tools can be used to complete the film.

Entries can also be made in any language. Films that are not in English must include English subtitles.

Each participant can submit one film.

What can your AI film be about?

Participants can choose from five themes, giving them plenty of room to develop their own stories.

These include human relationships; humans and AI; climate and nature; truth, fake news and misinformation; and society and humanitarian issues.

Entries will be judged based on storytelling, creativity, use of AI, visual quality and technical execution.

That means a strong idea and good storytelling matter alongside the technology used to create the film.

Entries are open until November 20

Interested residents still have time to learn the required AI tool and prepare an entry.

Submissions close on November 20, 2026.

The Top 10 films will be announced on December 15 before moving to public voting. Five finalists will have their work shown during the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.

The $1 million winner will be announced on January 10, 2027.

For Filipinos in the UAE who have wanted to experiment with AI-generated videos, this could be a good reason to turn an idea into a complete short film.