When Tech Becomes a Storyteller
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 20 June 2026: The 19th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2026 celebrated the spirit of cinematic innovation with titles under the section, "The AI Films." Exploring a bold convergence of storytelling, technology, and imagination, the curated films demonstrated how artificial intelligence acts as a powerful new creative tool, enabling filmmakers from across the globe to explore complex narratives spanning history, mythology, personal memory, and meta-cinematic boundaries.
Whether depicting stories about historical fights, using unique animation styles or looking deep into how a creator's mind works, these films showed that AI is not replacing human creativity. Instead, it simply gives filmmakers a powerful new tool to tell stories that would be difficult to make using traditional methods.
In the standout film "Legends – The Eternal Flame of Mewar", directed by Deepak Vijay, a lone bard sings across the Aravalli hills, charting successive historical eras from Bappa Rawal to Maharana Pratap to portray a kingdom defined by honor.
"The Screenwriter" by Laurent Cliquet, is a tense chamber piece that dives into the pressurized mind of a writer, using a confined perspective to examine the psychological struggles of the creative process.
Xuan Li's "The Star Shepherd" is a tactile, felt-animation music video inspired by a UNICEF visit to Malawi that beautifully illustrates how love connects strangers under the same sky.
For mythology lovers, "Kishkindha: Van Katha" by Aksht Verma draws on research across multiple Puranas to recreate the grand conflicts, politics, and tragic journeys within the ancient Vanara kingdom.
Rounding out the highlights, Talya Lotan's "Stonewall, The Making of" tracks the creation of an unmade feature about a Civil War general, blending interviews and on-set footage until the line between behind-the-scenes recording and staged history completely dissolves.
The other films included "The Act of Killing Dreams", a short directed by Karsh Jhaveri, examined artistic tradition and technological collision through a surreal, painterly landscape where legendary purist directors challenge emerging AI creators. Germany's "The Cinema That Never Was", directed by Mark Wachholz, functioned as a meditation on absence, utilizing generative workflows to conjure the ghosts of scripts, reels, and film histories lost to time or decay. "The Echo Monastery", directed by Rajesh Bhatia and Bharat Arora, followed a grieving Ladakhi woman’s journey into the deep mountains to confront memory and silence. Meanwhile, "The Legend of Birsa Munda", an AI-assisted biographical animation directed by Samresh Shrivastav, paid a powerful tribute to the resilience of indigenous voices by revisiting the historic Ulgulan resistance against colonial rule.
Together, the films offered film enthusiasts at MIFF a remarkable glimpse into the future of international filmmaking, proving that when artificial intelligence in films is developing by the day the result obtained can depict deeply human stories to life.
AI As Powerful New Tool Enables Filmmakers To Visualize Untold Stories
THE AI FILMS @ MIFF
The AI Films showcases a new frontier of cinematic expression where storytelling, technology, and imagination converge. Spanning history, mythology, personal memory, music, and meta-cinematic explorations, these films demonstrate how artificial intelligence is expanding creative possibilities while raising compelling questions about authorship, authenticity, and the future of filmmaking. Far from replacing human creativity, the works in this section reveal AI as a powerful new tool-one that enables filmmakers to visualize untold stories, reimagine the past, and explore ideas beyond the limits of conventional production.
LEGENDS - THE ETERNAL FLAME OF MEWAR
India | 2025 | 5:27 Mins | Mewari | AI Film
Deepak Vijay is an Indian digital artist, filmmaker, and prominent prompt engineer who has gained recognition within the global AI filmmaking community. ʻis wor˞ focuses on using generative AI to visualise historical and cultural narratives, bringing the landscapes and legacies of Indian civilisation to contemporary audiences through cinematic AI-generated storytelling
THE SCREENWRITER
AI Film Belgium | 2025 | 4:58 Mins | English | AI Film
Laurent Cliquet is a Swissʠbased digital artist, director, and filmmaker wok˞ing within the European and international generative AI cinema movement. His short films have won recognition at AI film festivals in the United States and internationally, and his work focuses on narrative tension, conceptual writing, and the expressive possibilities of AI-generated cinema.
THE STAR SHEPHERD
China 2025, 4.24 minutes, English, Chinese ˯ AI Film
The Star Shepherd’ is an AI-generated felt-animation music video created for Chinese artist Roy Wang, inspired by his 202ʧ UNICEF ambassador visit to Malawi. Observing the natural harmony between local children and their environment, Wang transformed the experience into a poetic concept: that love is what connects strangers beneath the same sk˞y. The film translates that vision into a tactile animated world rendered through generative AI and felt-textured imagery
Xuan Li is a Chinese director, visual storyteller, and digital artist ˞known for culturally influential music videos and experimental media. His work spans AI-generated cinema, digital art, and large-scale visual projects for major artists and brands across China and internationally.
KISHKINDHA: VAN KATHA
AI Film India | 2026 | 03:47 Mins | Hindi | AI Film | Historical Drama The Star Shepherd’ is an AIgenerated felt-animation music video created for Chinese artist ˅oy ˊang, inspired by his 202ʧ UNICEF ambassador visit to Malawi. Observing the natural harmony between local children and their environment, ˊang transformed the experience into a poetic concept: that love is what connects strangers beneath the same sky. The film translates that vision into a tactile animated world rendered through generative AI and felt-textured imagery. Kishkindha’ presents a retelling of the Ramayana story of Kishgindha, drawing on research across multiple Puranas and historical documents. ˇhe film examines the Kingdom through the journeys of the tragic k˞ing Sugriva, his brother Vali, and the rise of the crowned prince Angad. It explores the diverse Vanara species, the social and political dimensions of the epic, and the grand conflicts that shaped Kishkindha before and during the events of the Ramayana.
Akshat Verma is the founder of Abstract Eyes Creative Studio. His work includes campaigns for clients such as PUBG, PineLabs, DRI, and Cheq, and a recent collaboration with Freefire creating an opening event theme alongside his team. He has previously assisted directors on music videos and works with generative AI as his primary filmmaking tool.
STONEWALL, THE MAKING OF Israel | 2026 | 10:14 Mins | English | AI Film
THE ACT OF KILLING DREAMS
India | 2025 | 10 Mins | English | AI Film
THE CINEMA THAT NEVER WAS
Germany | 2025 | 5:32 Mins | English | AI Film
THE ECHO MONASTERY
India | 2026 | 03:47 Mins | Hindi | AI Film | Drama
THE LEGEND OF BIRSA MUNDA India | 2025 | 7:48 Mins | Hindi | AI Film | Biopic
