The Astana AI Film Festival has drawn positive reactions in Russia's cultural Telegram segment. The thematic channel "Poklonniki Mikhalkova," which covers cinema, culture, and public affairs, praised Kazakhstan's decision to develop the intersection of artificial intelligence and filmmaking, according to infohub.kz.
"The Kazakhs really know how to seize the moment," the channel's post reads. The authors note that while many countries are still debating the future of artificial intelligence in cinema, Kazakhstan is already creating an international platform for projects in this field.
The authors gave particular attention to the festival's scale. The competition received 8,067 films from 125 countries, with 25 works selected for the final program. The total prize fund amounted to $2 million. The Grand Prix of $450,000 went to Latvian director Nikolajs Šestaks for his film The First Honest Day.
The publication also examines the festival in the broader context of Kazakhstan's technological transformation. In recent years, artificial intelligence has become one of the key priorities on President Qasym-Jomart Toqaev's agenda. As early as his 2025 Address, the head of state set the task of turning Kazakhstan into a digital country within three years, and 2026 was officially declared the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. The president has also repeatedly emphasized that AI adoption must go beyond individual technology projects and become one of the fundamental elements of the country's development.
The channel's authors stress that Kazakhstan is seeking to join the formation of a new industry at its inception, without waiting for key trends in AI cinema to be fully shaped by the world's largest technological and cinematic centers.
Recall that yesterday Astana hosted the conclusion of the world's largest festival of films created using artificial intelligence — the Astana AI Film Festival (AAIFF 2026).