With the new Future Frames - The AI Sequence Prompting Competition powered by AI Frankfurt Rhein-Main e.V., the 18th LICHTER Filmfest shows how artificial intelligence can inspire creativity in the world of film. On April 24, international media artists will transform a simple image or text prompt into terrifying moving image sequences live on the big screen - supported by AI tools such as DALL-E and Midjourney. The competition will be accompanied by a prompting workshop for AI talents from Hesse and the Rhine-Main region. The 5th “Future of German Film” congress will also dedicate a panel to the opportunities and challenges of AI in the world of film.

Artificial intelligence has recently stirred up many fears in the film world. There is great skepticism that possibilities such as automated image processing, script analysis or AI-generated actors will dilute artistic quality or even replace professions. One thing is clear in any case: AI will change the world of film. The world's first Future Frames - The AI Sequence Prompting Competition powered by AI Frankfurt Rhein-Main e.V., which LICHTER will bring to the stage, shows that it can also enrich creativity.

The starting point of the entertaining battle is the brief “Make it scary!”, which was chosen in line with this year's festival theme of “fear”. Four media artists have 20 minutes to create a short moving image sequence that is as scary as possible with the help of AI-based image and video generators.

The exciting thing for the audience is that they can watch live on the cinema screen at MASSIF E (formerly E-Kinos Frankfurt) to see which prompts the creators use to achieve their final result. A jury of experts will then decide together with the audience on the best sequence and thus the winner of the competition.

 AI Frankfurt Rhein-Main e.V. has offered prize money of 2,000 euros for the first competition of its kind. The organization aims to network AI players in the Rhine-Main region more closely in order to strengthen cooperation between business and science in applied AI and to continuously inform the public about the opportunities and risks of AI.

The competition will be held on the Thursday of the festival, April 24, at MASSIF E and will be accompanied by a prompting workshop for AI talents from Hesse and the Rhine-Main region, which will take place in the morning as part of the 5th Congress Future of German Film

. In the afternoon, there will also be the panel 'Stop All AI', which will deal with the effects of AI on the creative work of filmmakers. Digital expert Geraldine de Bastion and author and filmmaker Boaz Lavie, who works as a lecturer on AI and algorithms, will be among those discussing artistic potential, ethical challenges and the future of the profession.

The jury 
Addie Reiss
Louis Savy