LTIMindtree and IFFI Bring India’s First AI Film Festival to Goa

India's inaugural "AI Film Festival and Hackathon" will take place on Nov. 20-28, 2025, during the 56th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. In a partnership among LTIMindtree, IFFI and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the initiative will debut exploring how AI can reshape film production, editing, and storytelling processes.

The AI Film Festival aims to position India as a frontrunner in the emerging “film-tech” space, combining generative technologies with the creative economy. According to LTIMindtree’s official statement, the festival will showcase the future of storytelling where human imagination meets machine intelligence, emphasizing collaboration over replacement.

This partnership represents a structural change toward creative-technological hybridization for India's $29.4 billion media and entertainment sector. LTIMindtree will facilitate AI-driven innovation through its BlueVerse CraftStudio, a creative-tech arm focusing on immersive experiences and content automation. The collaboration with IFFI will provide creative exposure to cinema, and a platform for coders and creators to experiment and revolutionize filmmaking with the use of Gen AI.

The New Intersection Between AI and Cinema

The AI Film Festival and Hackathon will run parallel to IFFI’s main event. It will feature screenings of AI-generated short films, animation experiments, and hybrid projects developed using machine-learning frameworks. 

A main component of this initiative is a ‘Cinemai Hackathon,’ a 48-hour event, which will invite developers and creators to build AI tools that could automate or enhance film production. Festival Director of IFFI, Shekhar Kapur, stated, “AI gives us a new lens that expands our ability to dream, design, and express,”  emphasizing the transformative potential of AI in cinema and the significance of this initiative.

Additionally, the event will feature masterclasses and workshops on generative art, ethical storytelling, and responsible usage of AI in film. Shekhar Kapur and other industry stalwarts are expected to participate in workshops to examine how AI influences authorship and creative autonomy.

Implications for India’s Creative Economy

The collaboration between an IT giant and a government-sponsored film festival reflects the government’s broader vision for digital transformation in media. The initiative could strengthen India’s soft-power exports, as global streaming platforms seek cost-efficient content pipelines. Integrating AI-assisted production systems could give Indian studios a competitive edge among international productions. 

The AI Film Festival and Hackathon will address the rising demand for “creative technologists,” with its upskilling courses and “hackathon” initiative. This initiative might lead to the emergence of "film-tech services" as a new subsector, following Western trends where businesses like Runway ML and Synthesia have transformed AI tools into production pipelines.

The Goa event pushes the boundaries between exhibition and experimentation by fusing technical prototyping with screenings, and turns IFFI into a testing ground for the cultural potential of AI.