MIT AI Filmmaking Hackathon

OpenArt Award Winners

The OpenArt Special Award celebrates creativity, innovation, and the transformative impact of AI on filmmaking. To be eligible, winners must have used OpenArt in their filmmaking process.

This year’s winners pushed the boundaries of AI-powered storytelling and earned incredible rewards - a Lifetime Infinite Subscription unlocking all of OpenArt’s premium features forever, plus spotlights across our website and social media, reaching millions of creative professionals. Their films are also featured on our YouTube channel and recognized within the OpenArt community.

We’re proud to showcase how AI can revolutionize filmmaking, and we can’t wait to see what future storytellers create. If you didn’t participate this time, hopefully soon we’ll also get to celebrate your film!

Khushi, Carolina, Leah & Nate:

Stepping outside for a simple chore can be hard for our ‘Zuck.’ The rest of the world seems to know all the dance steps to their social groove, but unfortunately, he doesn’t. Zuck is willing to do anything for little Pixi, his only friend. Follow Zuck as he journeys to replace Pixi’s broken toy and overcome his biggest fear: going out and having social interactions.

FOR PIXI

Khushi Hora
Carolina Herrera
Leah Jiaxin Yu
Nate Zucker

Best Character Winner

OpenArt Special Award Winner

JaguarBite Special Prize Winner

Yiwei & Minyu:

An elderly man receives an AI designed to replicate his late wife’s dance, but its flawlessness only deepens his sorrow. Perfection, he realizes, is its greatest flaw—because his wife was never perfect. She made mistakes, missed steps, laughed at missteps. Life, too, is filled with errors, hesitations, and the unexpected. Frustrated and grieving, he rejects the AI. The machine, confused, watches over him while searching for an answer. Where did it go wrong? ...Algorithms seek precision, but poetry thrives in the cracks.In the man’s final days, they share one last waltz. This time, the AI missteps. The old man laughs, embracing the imperfection. As he fades, the AI hesitates at a crossroads, then takes a step—without logic, without command, simply because it chooses to.Perhaps that is what it means to be alive.

The Last Dance

Minyu Chen, Yiwei Xie

OpenArt Special Award Winner

OpenArt Award Nominees

Zhiyu:

My film aligns with the "Dance in Life" theme by exploring the Shamanic Dance as an ancient ritual of exorcism. Historically, dance was not only a form of artistic expression but also a sacred practice used to communicate with spirits, heal the sick, and ward off evil. This inspired my story, which takes place in the Song Dynasty, where a noble family's daughter falls under an unknown affliction, believed to be caused by malevolent forces. To save her, a shaman is summoned to perform a ritualistic exorcism dance—a powerful, rhythmic movement designed to drive out the evil spirit.

Sacred Dance

Zhiyu Zhang

Best Visual Winner

OpenArt Special Award Nominee

Best Creative Usage of AI Nominee

Roos van der Jagt:

In a futuristic, glitching city, Ava, a talented dancer, discovers that her reality is not as real as she believes. As digital distortions begin to disrupt her world, Ava realizes she is trapped in a simulation, controlled by unseen forces. Her dance becomes both her escape and her weapon, as she learns to manipulate the system’s glitches.As Ava fights to break free, she confronts not only the artificial constraints around her but also her own identity, questioning what it means to truly be free. Through movement, rebellion, and unexpected alliances, Ava reshapes the digital world, discovering that the key to liberation lies in creating her own rhythm. Synthetic Rhythm is a futuristic, emotionally charged journey where dance and self-discovery collide in a world of shifting realities.

SYNTHETIC RHYTHM

Roos van der Jagt

OpenArt Special Award Nominee

Chu & Yawen:

Amidst a desolate battlefield, a girl in a red dress dances, trying to awaken lifeless soldiers trapped in a black-and-white world. Ignored, she continues until a bomb strikes her, and she bursts like a blood-red firework. As color returns, the soldiers regain their will, defeat the enemy, and reclaim victory. In the spot where she danced, a small red flower blooms.

Dance in the Ashes

Chu Li, Yawen Xiao

OpenArt Special Award Nominee

OpenArt Selected

Tiago & Baltazar:

Beneath the ocean’s surface, life moves in a delicate, choreographed rhythm—a dance shaped by evolution, instinct, and survival. The Dance of Nature follows this silent performance, where whales glide like celestial beings, dolphins weave through currents with boundless grace, and fish shimmer in synchronized motion. It is a world of fluidity and harmony, where every movement has meaning.

But dances don't last forever. In the Faroe Islands, a centuries-old tradition disrupts the rhythm, turning the ocean’s stage into a scene of chaos. The dolphins’ effortless movements shift from playful arcs to frantic struggles as the water runs red. In mere moments, beauty collides with brutality.

The Dance of Nature

Tiago Aragona, Baltazar Gadda

Special Shout-out:

The Algorithm’s Dance wasn’t officially submitted due to technical issues, but we want to recognize Elio’s incredible work.

Elio’s The Algorithm’s Dance is a reflection on what AI means for us. With a heartwarming story, it invites us to think: What will our world look like in a decade when AI is more woven into our lives? Elio offers an inspiring perspective, challenging fears of technology feeling soulless and insincere, and instead shows how AI can enhance human connection rather than replace it.

Beyond its thought-provoking message, The Algorithm’s Dance also beautifully showcases OpenArt’s Consistent Characters feature, delivering a touching story with striking visual storytelling. A well-deserved shout-out to this beautifully crafted film!

- Helena from OpenArt

The Algorithm’s Dance

Elio Cesar Pajares Ruiz

Special Shout-out

Shanshan:

In a surreal fusion of live-action and AI-generated imagery, the film, CLOWN, centers on a talented clown who gradually loses her sense of self in pursuit of audience approval. As she reshapes her routines, appearance, and even personality to meet the shifting demands of the crowd, the lines between performance and reality dissolve.

A visually striking meditation on motion, storytelling, and identity, CLOWN is a poetic dance between self-expression and surrender. The camera moves fluidly, capturing not just the clown’s performances but the unseen dance of existence - the restless flow of people, the mechanical rhythm of machines, the silent transmission of data shaping her world.

Clown

Shanshan Jiang

Best Film Winner

Best 3D Generation Nominee

Yifan, Niki & Ivy:

Our film “Endless Night” connects to the Hackathon theme “Dance in Life” by showing how dance helps Iris break free from societal expectations to find her true self. Growing up, Iris danced not out of love, but to meet her parents’ strict demands. As an adult, she continues living for others, trapped in a colorless routine. One night, distant music awakens something within her. Though haunted by painful memories, Iris can't ignore her inner voice. She hesitates, but finally steps out to a hidden dance floor, where movement becomes her own. Dance, once a burden, transforms into a symbol of freedom and self-expression. This film reminds us that no matter how dark life feels, the rhythm of dance, like hope, is always within us, waiting to be unlocked.

Endless Night

Yifan Chen, Niki Hu, Ivy Jiang

Best Film Nominee

Best Visual Nominee

Best Character Nominee

Qatsi Team:

An homage to the 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi, “Qatsi” is a visual exploration of motion as the axiom of life—spanning the vastness of the cosmos, the rhythms of nature, and the intimacy of human connection. Through dance and movement, we examine the flow of relationships, the inevitability of change, and the cycles of separation and reunion.

Qatsi

Omi Bahuguna, Mark Chan, Yidi Zhou,
Prisha Jain, Olivia Lee

Best Music Winner

Best Visual Honorable Mention

Donglin & Yixuan:

An enigmatic cat journeys through time, leaving paw prints across the tapestry of human civilization. From primal tribes dancing around bonfires, Egyptians twirling for rain, to the elegance of Tang-Song court art and the eerie spectacles of Edo-era yōkai, it witnesses the rise and fall of cultures through the universal language of dance. When wars erase murals and dynasties bury legends, only rhythm and dance survives in the cracks of history. Now, disguised as a human, it navigates modern skyscrapers, offering a whimsical creed: “To dance is to live.” With humor and a feline gaze, this film playfully reimagines humanity’s grand narratives, revealing a truth: life never stops and we can dance at any moment!

Cat Can Dance

Donglin Cheng, Yixuan Liu

Best Film Nominee

Charlotte:

(This description is written by the OpenArt team)

Through the Infinity tells the story of Amy, a dancer whose life was once defined by movement - until pain and injury changed everything. Struggling to hold on to her past, she faces the harsh reality that returning to the stage as she once knew it may no longer be possible.

But when an advanced home robot enters her life, everything shifts. What begins as a simple interaction evolves into something transformative. Guided by AI, Amy discovers a new way to move - not as a return to the past, but as a reinvention of her future. No longer bound by traditional ballet, she creates a dance entirely her own, embodying freedom and power beyond what she ever imagined.

Through The Infinity

Charlotte Wu

Best Narrative Nominee

Best 3D Generation Nominee

Exohexahedra Team:

In 2041, astronomers discover twelve massive metallic spheres orbiting between Earth and Mars—moving with purpose. As Dr. Sydney Jamison races to decode their message, governments hesitate. But when underground breakdancers unknowingly mirror the spheres' movements, a startling truth emerges: first contact has already begun

Exohexahedra

Joe Davis joedavis, Kris Pilcher kpilcher,
GABE NICONCHUK, Johnny Tang,
Echo Liu, MER GRALENSKI

Leah:

"Overthinking" is an experimental video work that explores an intimate romantic relationship between a human and artificial intelligence. The narrative unfolds as a personal letter, examining the unique dynamics of synthetic love in the modern age. The piece navigates several interconnected themes: the contrast between physical existence and digital consciousness, the asymmetrical nature of time between human and AI entities, and the performative aspects of human-AI interactions. The work culminates in a metaphorical dance, describing the relationship as a choreographed performance where both participants engage in mutual imitation - the human imitating societal expectations of love giving, while the AI mirrors the human's emotional patterns.

Overthinking

Leah Bian

Best XR Film Winner

Ohuo Studio:

Inspired by the theme "Dance in Life," the video skillfully employs a one-shot moving camera to present a complex interplay of AI data, algorithms, and cultural biases. The work blends technology and narrative while redefining everyday actions like walking and sitting as dance. In a style similar to contemporary dance and performance art, every expressive movement that shows emotion is seen as dance. It explores the relationship between the body, space, time, and inner feelings. The creators added the word "female" to their prompts to break the pattern where gender-neutral terms usually produce male images, ensuring more female characters appear. "Invisible Women" invites us to rethink and reshape the connection between society and data, turning the invisible into visible.

Invisible Woman

Fan Yu, Song Lu

Special Shout-out

"In the 1950s, a man who works at a fan company experiences an epiphany at work through a hallucination on his typewriter..."

Carl’s incredible work deserves a special shout-out even though it wasn’t officially submitted in the hackathon due to technical challenges.

This film is pure creativity at its finest. Just Fans tells a stylish and story about a company that makes fans - blending striking visuals and deep symbolism. My own interpretation? It follows an employee with hearing difficulties who falls in love, begins seeing the world dance around him, and ultimately finds joy and achievement in starting an AC company. But that’s just how I see it. this film invites you to find your own meaning in its beautifully crafted world.

- Helena from OpenArt

Just Fans

Carl Hansen

Special Shout-out

Although Professor Terry Martin Mace couldn’t complete Make Space to Dance in time, we want to recognize this uniquely touching music video. As he shared one day after the hackathon:

‍"I used almost exclusively OpenArt AI to generate and create both images and videos. I used every possible tool available within OpenArt AI, and the following film is the result of around 14 days of work, 18 hours a day! A big shout out to @cocokechun and @Helena who arranged for me to have a free months Infinite subscriber package sponsorship at no cost to myself for the duration of the competition."

‍We’re incredibly honored to have supported Professor Mace’s journey and inspired by his dedication. While this film wasn’t officially submitted, it’s a powerful example of creativity and perseverance in AI filmmaking.

Make Space to Dance

Professor, Terry Martin Mace

Special Shout-out

Why We Did This