The 1st Aura Children's AI Film Festival 2026

The 1st Aura Children's AI Film Festival 2026
AURA KIDS AI FILM FESTIVAL 2026
— International Children's Inquiry-Based AI Creation Competition —

◼️Application Guidelines
"Children's dreams are the future of humanity."
The world faces a variety of social challenges, including wars and conflicts, natural disasters, environmental problems, and poverty.
The "Aura Children's AI Film Festival" is an international creative competition where children express their thoughts on social issues and the future that adults face, using their own free ideas and rich imagination, through stories, drawings, designs, and videos.
This is not a film festival that only competes with completed film works.
"I hope the future turns out like this."
"I want to create a world like this."
We value the creative process itself, which involves thinking about, drawing, and expressing those small "what if" scenarios with your own hands, and utilizing AI as needed.

◼️Event Overview
Name: The 1st Aura Children's AI Film Festival 2026
AURA KIDS AI FILM FESTIVAL 2026

◼️Target audience: Children aged 4-12, primarily from Japan and the UK.

◼️Participation format: Individual or group

◼️Application period
Saturday, August 1, 2026 - Sunday, October 25, 2026 23:59

◼️ Review period (tentative)
Late October to mid-November 2026

◼️ Award ceremony and screening (planned)
Sunday, November 29, 2026
We aim to hold and exchange exhibitions in Tokyo and London.

◼️ Recruitment Themes
Thinking about the future through "what if" scenarios.
We encourage children to freely imagine what kind of future they would like to see, or what they would like to have, and express their own vision of the future.
We welcome not only works that address social issues, but also free-thinking ideas born from children's own interests, such as everyday life, family, school, town, nature, animals, and space.

◼️Recruitment department
01 | Scenario Division
Creating Stories: With "the future" as the theme, children will create original stories with free-thinking ideas. The basic principle is that children should be able to write and express their stories in their own words.
*Handwritten signature by the applicant is required.

02 | Textile Picture Book Category
Depicting the world of a story: Focusing on an original story with the theme of "the future," we use various materials to express the worldview of the story.
The judging will focus on the scenario (story), while the original artwork will be evaluated as an expression that conveys the worldview, characters, and scenes.
*Parents may assist with written expression.

03 | Storyboard Section
Planning the video's structure involves visually representing "what scenes to show and in what order" to present the story. Hand-drawn storyboards are the basis for this process.

0 4 | Character Design Department
Create characters for the future: Design original characters that will appear in stories of the future, including people, animals, robots, and imaginary creatures.

0 5 | Fashion Design Department
Creating the fashion of the future: We freely design clothes, accessories, and other items that people of the future will wear.

0 6 | Future Environmental Design Division
Creating the world of the future: Freely design the kind of places you wish existed, such as future homes, schools, cities, vehicles, parks, natural environments, and space.

◼️ About the creation of the artwork
This film festival will primarily focus on analog production using hand-drawn and manual methods.
The winning entries will be developed by the organizers using AI to create videos, animations, and other media, which will then be made public.
Our goal is not for children to use AI, but rather to utilize AI to expand the possibilities of their own ideas and creativity.

◼️ About the submitted works
Entries must be original works conceived and created by the applicant.
Entries created by parents or adults on behalf of others, or those that directly use existing characters, brands, or other people's works, are not eligible.
However, in categories other than the scenario writing section, it is possible to provide assistance with written expression for children who are not yet able to write, such as having a parent or adult transcribe what the child has said. The ideas and expressions of the work themselves must be those of the child.
*For the scenario category, submissions must be handwritten by the applicant.

◼️Regarding the review process
Not only the level of completion and technical skill,
"What were you thinking?"
"What kind of future did you imagine?"
"How did you bring your ideas to life?"
We value this creative process when evaluating entries.
We take into account differences in creative abilities based on age and comprehensively evaluate each child's ideas and expressions.

◼️ About the judges
We are pleased to welcome a distinguished panel of judges who are at the forefront of their respective fields.
The judges will be announced periodically. Please look forward to it!

◼️ About the awards
Aura Grand Prize: Trophy and certificate awarded. Awards in each category: Certificate awarded. In addition, special awards may be given depending on the judging results.
The winning entries will be featured on the official website and will also be introduced at the awards ceremony and screenings.

◼️ How to apply
From this website,
① Select the category you wish to enter ② Download the designated worksheets, etc. ③ Create your artwork ④ Photograph or digitize your artwork ⑤ Submit it via the application form.
Works created on any paper or in any format without using a worksheet are also eligible, as long as they meet the entry requirements for each category.
Participation fee: Free

◼️International exchange connecting Japan and the UK
This film festival aims to promote international exchange through films by children from Japan and the UK.
Regardless of nationality or language differences, we aim to share children's aspirations for the future they envision and create opportunities for them to experience each other's ideas and cultures.
We are planning an exchange exhibition between London and Japan featuring the winning works.

◼️Notes
The copyright of submitted works generally belongs to the applicant.
The organizers reserve the right to publish and use submitted works, as well as images and videos of the works, free of charge, for the purposes of operating, judging, exhibiting, screening, promoting, maintaining the official website and social media accounts, creating press materials, and introducing future events of this film festival.
Since the applicant is a minor, parental consent is required to apply.
Regarding the publication of names, photographs, etc., we will confirm parental consent at the time of application.
Entries that infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, portrait rights, or other rights of third parties are not eligible.

◼️Organizer
Aura Creative Education Institute
◼️ Planning and Management
Aura Co., Ltd.

A child's small "what if" might change the future.
The 1st Aura Children's AI Film Festival 2026
We look forward to seeing the free-thinking ideas of many children.