AI Toronto Genre Awards celebrates a new wave of genre cinema built with artificial intelligence. From sci-fi and fantasy to thriller, horror, and everything strange in between, we spotlight short films where AI is part of the creative pipeline - and where genre storytelling finds a bold, unexpected new voice.

Artificial intelligence is rewriting how films get made - and the most exciting work is coming from creators who treat it as an instrument, not a shortcut. Here, a prompt is the first draft of a world, a model is a collaborator, and a single laptop can hold an entire production. We care less about the tools themselves than about what they let you say: the strange, the thrilling, and the unforgettable.

Genre is our playground. Sci-fi frontiers, fantastical quests, taut thrillers, midnight scares - every corner of genre storytelling is welcome, and two signature prizes look back to the glowing, VHS-soaked craft of the 1980s. It's a program built for filmmakers who want their vision on a real screen, in front of a real audience, alongside the people shaping cinema's next chapter.

Held in downtown Toronto on the evening of September 18, 2026, the Awards bring filmmakers, digital artists, and genre-loving audiences together for a night of screenings and recognition. Wrapped in a neon, retro-future spirit, it's a stage for the creators reimagining what genre cinema can be - whatever world they choose to build.