On May 16, 2025, the Cannes Film Festival will host the premiere of a feature-length film created entirely with artificial intelligence. The project was developed by Higgsfield AI, a startup co-founded by Kazakh entrepreneur Yerzat Dulat.
From short videos to feature films
Until recently, Higgsfield AI specialized in generating short-form videos for social media. The company is now shifting its focus toward full-scale filmmaking. Yerzat Dulat announced the move during the strategic brunch “AI Economy. Assets of the Future” held in Almaty.
According to him, the feature film was created in around two and a half weeks, a timeline considered nearly impossible for traditional film production. The movie will be presented to the professional community at one of the world’s leading cinema platforms.
The Cannes premiere will become the first step in developing Higgsfield Originals, the company’s new line of original content that it plans to release on a regular basis.
How the film was created
Despite the high level of automation, creating an AI-generated film is far more complex than pressing a single button. Generative models produce massive amounts of video material, which then goes through selection and refinement.
According to the startup’s co-founder, the system has to generate approximately 215 minutes of raw footage to produce one minute of final video.
After that, the team reviews the generated material, selects the best scenes, adjusts visual elements, works on sound design, and assembles the final structure of the film.
Around 10 people worked on the project.
The cost of producing an AI-generated film
One of the main topics of Yerzat Dulat’s presentation was the economics of generative filmmaking.
According to Higgsfield AI estimates, producing a feature-length film with AI costs the company around $400,000 to $500,000. About $300,000 of that amount goes toward GPU computing power required for video generation, while another roughly $100,000 covers sound production, editing, and team expenses.
For comparison, the speaker cited spending figures from major streaming platforms.
According to him, Netflix spends around $18 billion annually on content production and releases about 600 original projects each year. The average budget for a feature-length film can reach up to $30 million.
AI is becoming increasingly involved in the film industry
Over the past two years, generative models have become widely used in the creation of images, music, animation, and video. Major technology companies and film studios are experimenting with AI for visual effects, virtual characters, screenwriting, and dubbing.
Higgsfield AI’s Cannes premiere could become one of the first cases where AI-generated content of this scale is presented to the international professional film community at one of the world’s leading cinema events.
Following the premiere, the company plans to continue developing Higgsfield Originals and release new AI-generated films and series.
At the same time, industry experts note that the growing role of AI in cinema raises new questions, from copyright issues to the role of humans in the creative process. Nevertheless, interest in such projects continues to grow, while major festivals are increasingly becoming platforms for showcasing AI experiments.