theBig ScreenHack.
Make a short film in 48 hours. Meet filmmakers and AI developers, create together, and give your story a chance to reach the big screen. Planned venue: BFI IMAX, subject to securing the space. Hack dates to be announced.
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Filmmakers.+AIdevelopers.=Newcinema.
Filmmakers bring vision, taste and craft.AI developers expand what can be made. Together, they create work neither could make alone.
The artists embracing these new tools are already making the next form of cinema. Traditional film institutions have not made enough room for them yet. Big Screen Hack does: a place to create, a cinema to show the work and an audience there to see it.
London.Back to the big screen.
This October, we’re bringing filmmakers and AI developers together in London during the BFI London Film Festival. Join the next 48-hour challenge and help make the films people will be talking about.
Online.
Two-week challengeA global online advertising challenge. Creative teams take one live brand brief and have two weeks to make a finished ad before the shortlist and winner are judged online.
Toronto.
10–20 September 2026A proposed Toronto chapter during the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, taking the movement to one of cinema’s biggest global meeting points.
Riyadh.
April 2027A proposed LEAP chapter connecting filmmakers with the builders shaping the next generation of creative technology. Official event dates are still to be confirmed.
Your city.
Your event · your screenBring Big Screen Hack to your festival, conference, cinema or creative community. We supply the format, the filmmakers, the builders and the work worth screening.
The work already made it to the screen.
Every completed chapter keeps its films, photographs, videos and event record. The archive is evidence, not an afterthought.
CompletedCannes
May 2026A film jam, villa gathering and Cinéum screening put the strongest work in front of a festival-week audience.
See the chapter
CompletedLondon
October 2025 · May 2026The BFI debut proved the idea. The London flagship scaled it to 180 people and 58 submissions.
See the chapter
CompletedTribeca
June 2026The community crossed the Atlantic for an independent New York chapter during Tribeca week.
See the chapterMeet.Make.Screen.
Put the disciplines together.
Filmmakers and AI developers arrive as teams or meet on the day. Story instinct and technical possibility begin in the same room.
- Enter with a team
- Join solo
- Cross-discipline matching
The clock starts.
One theme drops. Teams make a finished short film or a working filmmaking tool before time runs out.
- 24 or 48 hours
- One live brief
- Film or working tool
The work meets an audience.
The strongest work moves from laptops to a real cinema screen. Every finished film stays discoverable in the archive.
- Live showcase
- Jury and audience awards
- Permanent film archive
A slightly mad idea.A real movement.
London proved the format. Cannes gave the films a bigger screen. Tribeca carried the community further. Now we’re bringing that experience back to London for the next generation of filmmakers.
The work is the point.Press play.
Every argument about AI and cinema becomes more useful once there is a film in front of you. Start with three standouts, then enter the full 49-film archive.
lilies
Muja Studios · Jabir Mohammed
Claude · Midjourney · Seedance 2.0 · SunoFloor 67
The 22nd Century
AI-native short film · 48-hour productionA Door Into the Dark
Book of Eli
Film track · Official selection