Four Films Shortlisted at the 2026 AARON Awards
Some signals matter more than others.
Four films from our roster have been shortlisted at the 2026 AARON Awards, a festival focused on AI and advertising. Not experimentation for its own sake, but work that tries to define what this space actually is.
You can view the full shortlist here:
https://www.aaronawards.com/assets/AARON_Awards_Shortlist_2026_R2-Dlf1RKbg.pdf
And more about the awards here:
https://www.aaronawards.com
The shortlisted projects
Yamaha TMAX 25th Anniversary | Director Kobayashi
Category: Best Hybrid Production
A hybrid piece where live action meets machine perception.
AI expands the visual language of the bike into something more atmospheric and visceral.
Reflections stretch, surfaces dissolve, and the energy of the TMAX becomes almost abstract.
Less about documenting the ride. More about capturing the tension right before it happens.
Erotika Manifesto | Director Kobayashi
Category: Best AI Powered Narrative
A bold, playful film built around desire, tone, and provocation. Created with POPE Creative Studio, the piece leans into a heightened, stylized world of intimacy and fantasy.
It does not try to be subtle. It knows exactly what it is doing and pushes it just far enough to stay controlled while still feeling raw.
Dompè Connections | Director Kobayashi
Category: Stock and AI Creative Alchemy
A pharma-driven project centered on NGF research, where the challenge is not generation but transformation. Existing material is reshaped and fused with AI into a coherent visual narrative, using AI to connect fragments into something meaningful. The focus here is clarity and purpose, not spectacle.
Open Airlines | Mariam
Category: Ad Spec
A sharp, satirical take on digital existence. The protagonist can exist in Tokyo, Paris, and Dubai at the same time, fully aware of her own artificial nature.
She can float on clouds, bend reality, and be everywhere at once. But she cannot actually be there.
The film plays with the current AI slop era, drawing a clear line between generating a destination and experiencing it.
Why this matters
AI in advertising is still in a noisy phase.
A lot of work stops at the tool. It looks new, but it does not say anything.
These four projects take different positions:
expanding live action through AI, not replacing it
building a narrative that embraces stylization and control
transforming existing material into something purposeful
using AI to critique itself
Same ecosystem. Different intentions.
A small signal
This is not about awards. It is about direction.
What matters is building a language where AI is not a shortcut, but a medium that can be directed with precision. Where every frame feels intentional.
