Cue Xmas ’26 AI Film Festival: Free Christmas Film Call
Make a Christmas AI film built from real creative choices
Cue Xmas ’26 is a free call for original Christmas-themed AI short films and AI music videos. The festival is less interested in a single impressive generation than in a finished piece with deliberate shots, a human-authored concept, and an edit that holds together from beginning to end.
The founding edition is produced by AFRO TV and leads to a December 12 programme in Orlando, with selected work shown through the festival site and the live awards broadcast. That makes it a useful opportunity for AI filmmakers who want an actual screening path, not just another social-media hashtag.
Contest details
Deadline: November 20, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
Who can enter: Creators age 18 or older. One entry is allowed per entrant, and the film must have been completed on or after January 1, 2026.
Entry fee: Free for Cue Xmas ’26.
Prize and benefit: Four cash-award categories—Best Film, Best Image, Best Sound, and Best AI Music Video—are advertised, but the organizer has not yet published the dollar amounts. Selected work may also receive festival exhibition and broadcast or streaming exposure through AFRO TV, Xfinity, NOW TV, the festival site, and social channels.
Video format: One Christmas AI Short Film or AI Music Video, from 2:00 through 6:00 minutes, delivered as a 16:9 H.264 MP4 at 1920 × 1080 or better. The rules call for multiple intentional shots or sequences and a human-completed final edit.
What the festival wants
A strong entry should feel shaped by a filmmaker rather than exported straight from a generator. Entrants provide a creative brief and an AI-process summary, and the festival may ask finalists to explain which tools were used and which parts were completed by people. A single unedited AI clip is not eligible.
Short films and music videos follow the same runtime window, but music-video entrants should make the visual treatment meaningfully respond to the music. Films not in English need English subtitles. Music, voices, likenesses, characters, logos, and other third-party material must be cleared for public exhibition, broadcast, streaming, and promotion.
How to enter
Prepare a web-ready 1080p MP4, a landscape 16:9 poster, the film title and logline, a creative brief, an AI-process summary, and the required rights confirmations. Submit through the official Cue Film Fest form before the Eastern Time cutoff. Finalists may be asked for a broadcast-ready file, captions, stills, and releases by December 4.
The selection process includes organizer review plus public ratings, likes, and views. Approved entries may appear publicly under an anonymous alias before the official selection is announced, so do not assume the film will stay private after eligibility review.
Rights terms worth reading
Filmmakers keep ownership. Submission grants AFRO TV a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license for two years from the submission date to screen, broadcast, stream, and promote the film, including the use of excerpts, stills, titles, and submitted biographical material. Entrants should confirm that their AI tools permit commercial use and that every collaborator has agreed to the planned distribution.
Read the official Cue Xmas ’26 call and submit your film.
Review the complete Cue Film Fest terms.
Online Video Contests independently summarizes opportunities and is not the organizer. Confirm the deadline, eligibility, technical delivery rules, prize details, and rights terms with the organizer before entering.
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