Behind the scenes at the Seattle AI Film Festival
What a weekend! The first ever Seattle AI Film Festival succeeded in its mission to reveal the human creators behind AI art.
John du Pre Gauntt, the creative visionary behind this extraordinary event - held at the former headquarters of Seattle's PBS station - emphasized the human connection brilliantly. Before each screening, creators' names appeared on screen. Several creators traveled to Seattle to witness their work along with the audience.
Renard T. Jenkins delivered a powerful keynote, challenging Hollywood to embrace AI's capabilities rather than fear them.
Alvin Wang Graylin implored us to think of AI as a democratizing force in the creative process and a different kind of filmmaking, not a replacement.
Watching the dozens of short films on the screen, I documented my emotional responses:
Inspiring.
Beautiful.
Heartbreaking.
Funny.
Sad.
Uplifting.
Poetic.
These AI films weren't soulless—they were profoundly soulful, deep and contemplative.
They weren't lifeless—they portrayed vibrant visions of existence: future life, past life, life with AI, and life in transformation.
Witness Roxanne Ducharme's "FOSSiLS," a 3.5-minute poetic masterpiece about "memory, time, and the traces we leave behind." Known online as TrashCan Roxanne, her work won the award for best non-fiction short short.
What makes Roxanne's film and the others I saw so remarkable isn't just their technical achievement but their emotional impact. These AI films move us, awe us—exactly what exceptional filmmaking should accomplish, regardless of how it's created.
