FIAV Casablanca Puts AI and Cinema in the Same Frame

Fez — The debate anchored the 31st Festival International d’Art Vidéo’s spotlight on new digital creation from November 10 to 15.

Director Nader Takmil Homayoun and producer Salar Shahna discussed their in-progress, AI-assisted feature “Sepideh,” using the project to show how machine tools can speed tests, invent images, and widen narrative options while keeping authorship human. 

They urged careful, “intelligent” use of AI, framing it as a partner that processes data at scale as filmmakers make the creative calls. The exchange took place Wednesday at the Institut Français in a session tied to FIAV’s pro program.

Speakers said the human–machine pairing lets teams iterate faster on look, character, and scene design, which can be critical when on-location filming is restricted. They also stressed boundaries: set creative rules first, then allow AI to work inside them so that the finished film reflects the director’s vision.

This year’s FIAV leans hard into that conversation. The official program lists an AI master class and multiple talks on creation with algorithms, while the opening night featured “AI Dream,” an immersive show by augmented magician Moulla that fused performance and code at the Studio des Arts Vivants. Organizers frame the week under a broader French-Moroccan digital season and FIAV’s 2025 theme of “Identités désincarnées” (“Disembodied identities.”)

The festival runs across city venues, including the Institut Français on Boulevard Mohamed Zerktouni, with a schedule that mixes installations, generative art, and live performances that blend technology, dance, and audiovisual work. Public listings confirm dates, locations, and partner events, alongside university-led sessions that situate AI within a wider cultural agenda.

By placing a filmmaker–producer duo onstage with an AI-aided film still in production, FIAV moved the AI debate from theory to workflow. The takeaway was pragmatic: AI can compress timelines and open new creative avenues, yet the film remains a human story that relies on choices only artists can make.