Grand Prix
A Face Only a Mother Could Love
Robert Gaudette
Festivals · Festival · Brand or platform
Runway AI Festival
Runway's annual AI film festival, held since 2023, with a jury, ranked awards and gala screenings in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
- Organiser
- Runway
- Held
- Annual
2026
ResultsNew York, Los Angeles and Tokyo · Results published 30 Jul 2026
Winners
Gold
The Well
Dorian & Daniel
Silver
Where Knights Fall
Mathery
Honoree
Costa Verde
Léo Cannone & New Forest Film
Honoree
TAIRELL ISN’T REAL
Dave Clark
Merit
Little Mes
Lucas Levitan & Fabián Jiménez
Merit
Between Before and After
Sifang Chen & Yang Wang
Merit
POSTMAN
YUUUKI
Merit
살(煞) - Divine Retribution
Minju Choi
Merit
Simiyu, Lies and Happiness
John Kirk Kelly
Key dates
About this edition
- Eligibility
- Film track: 3 to 15 minutes, a fully contained linear narrative that uses generative video.
- Prizes
- Grand Prix $50,000 plus 1,000,000 Runway credits; Gold $15,000; Silver $10,000; two Honorees and five Merits (homepage).
- Jury
- Roger Avary, Jane Rosenthal, Bill Hensler, Randall Bobbitt, Bruce Markoe, Kia Brooks, Joel Kuwahara, Richard Kerris and Cristóbal Valenzuela.
2025
ResultsNew York and Los Angeles · Results published 5 Jun 2025
Winners
Grand Prix
Total Pixel Space
Jacob Adler
Gold
JAILBIRD
Andrew Salter
Silver
ONE
Ricardo Villavicencio & Edward Saatchi
Merit
A Million Trillion Pathways
Hachi and IO
Key dates
- Screening↗New York screening at Lincoln Center, as reported by AP; the organiser's archive does not date it
Why it matters
Runway’s festival was the first sustained annual festival run by an AI-tool company, and its screening-room archive is a reference set of award-winning AI shorts since 2023. Its 2026 film rules asked for a self-contained, linear narrative of three to fifteen minutes, which keeps the judging on storytelling rather than on effects. Winners are screened at cinema galas, in 2026 in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Editions
The 2026 jury, drawn from film, studios and technology companies, scored entries on quality, cohesion of concept, originality and AI technique. A Face Only a Mother Could Love won the Grand Prix, with The Well taking Gold and Where Knights Fall Silver. The five 2026 Merit films, including Little Mes and POSTMAN, are published in full on Runway’s channel. Runway’s own ranks are kept in each award’s category; Gold and Silver are recorded as runners-up and Honoree and Merit as honourable mentions. The organiser does not date the 2026 winners announcement; the galas date the edition here.
In 2025, Total Pixel Space by Jacob Adler won the Grand Prix, ahead of Andrew Salter’s JAILBIRD and ONE. That edition’s results come from the organiser’s archive, and AP dates its New York screening. Earlier editions are in the screening room; 2024 is not yet recorded here because its archive lists winners without award ranks.
No 2027 call has been announced.