Dreams of Violets brings AI-generated film to Tribeca, sparking debate on future of film-making

First Fully AI Live-Action Feature Accepted at Major Film Festival

Dreams of Violets marks a significant milestone as the first fully AI-generated film to secure official programming at a major film festival. The 75-minute docudrama will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10 at the AMC Flat Iron Theatre in New York City 4

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. Directed and produced by Iranian-British brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha under their AI-focused production company Fountain 0, every visual element in the film was generated using artificial intelligence 1

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The film tells the story of five strangers caught up in the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tehran in January 2026. According to Ash Koosha, approximately 80% of the narrative recreates events that actually happened, based on journalistic reports, video footage, and eyewitness accounts 2

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. The Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that at least 7,000 people died during the protests, with more than 50,000 arrested 3

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Iranian Protest Violence Depicted Through AI Technology

The film centers on Iranian civilian resistance and follows strangers who meet by chance in an alleyway during the massacre. A key character is Amir, a child with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair, who watches from a window as Iranian forces execute wounded protesters at dawn 4

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. Koosha created characters by describing their physical appearances, deliberately avoiding resemblance to living people in Iran due to security concerns 2

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The timing of Dreams of Violets at Tribeca coincides with ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the US-Israel war on Iran. At a moment when relatively few filmmakers from the region can tell stories like this on a global stage, the subject matter carries particular urgency 1

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. Koosha, who left Iran in 2009 after being imprisoned for two weeks for organizing a music festival, explained his motivation: "This made me political. This is where I drew the line. I thought: you know what, I'm going to make the first film about this. It's time to use technology to keep something alive" 2

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Production Cost and Timeline Challenge Traditional Filmmaking

The production cost and timeline present a stark contrast to conventional filmmaking. Koosha completed Dreams of Violets in two-and-a-half to three months for under $2,000, working on it in the evenings while maintaining his day job as CEO of Claigrid, an AI personalization company 2

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. The brothers used AI software tools including Google Nanobanana for imagery and core frames, Kling AI for video generation, Claude AI for language editing, and Google Gemini for research 4

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"If you wanted to do it in CGI, it would cost millions. I spent under $2,000," Koosha stated, emphasizing that the film would be "100% impossible" to bring to screen in the traditional way 2

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. The filmmaker noted that actors, sets, and cameras were replaced by AI models in production 4

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Ethical Concerns and Debate Over Human Storytelling

The inclusion of Dreams of Violets has sparked heated debate about AI in depicting sensitive human experiences. Discussion spread across Reddit with reactions sharply divided—some criticized Tribeca for programming the project, while others praised the Koosha brothers for bypassing traditional studio gatekeepers and financial barriers 1

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. Several commenters pointed to Oscar-nominated Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, whose 2025 Palme d'Or-winning film It Was Just an Accident also explored political activism and repression in Iran without AI-generated performances or imagery, offering what critics viewed as a more grounded, human depiction 1

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Koosha addressed these ethical concerns directly: "I understand that an AI-generated film about people who actually died raises difficult questions. I have thought about those questions for every minute of every day I have worked on this film. My answer is that the alternative—silence, forgetting, the regime's preferred outcome—is worse" 3

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. He explained that the AI pipeline made it possible to create "a memorial film for an event that happened behind a wall I cannot cross," noting he had no access to Iran, the locations, or the people 4

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Democratize Filmmaking for Underrepresented Creators

Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal framed Dreams of Violets as "a powerful example of how emerging technologies like AI can be used not simply as tools of innovation, but as vehicles for deeply human storytelling" 4

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. At the AI on the Lot conference in Culver City, California, speakers expressed sustained optimism that AI video tools will expand access to filmmaking for underrepresented creators who have historically faced financial barriers 1

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Ash Koosha emphasized this democratizing potential: "For the many independent filmmakers, and would be independent filmmakers, whose biggest barrier is access to money to make their films, Fountain 0 technology solves for the financial barriers they face" 4

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. The director noted that as a first-time film creator, he could not have brought this film to fruition without AI tools, describing the kind of films he'd make with AI as "impossible movies, a film that requires a $300m budget, and it doesn't happen on this planet" 2

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Future of Film-Making and Industry Implications

Fountain 0 now sees their AI-generated movie model as production-ready for indie filmmakers. Koosha acknowledged the technology "will understandably bring chills down the spine of many in Hollywood," but positioned it as a solution for creators whose biggest barrier is financial access 4

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. For his next AI film project, Koosha plans to create characters using actual people through face and image licensing, where actors can voice act and take a share in the financial gain 2

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The film arrives as AI raises broader questions in Hollywood. Val Kilmer was recently brought back to life digitally in As Deep as the Grave, and the Academy has added new restrictions to how AI is used in movies that get nominated for the Oscars 3

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. While Hell Grind, a 95-minute AI-generated demon movie, recently screened at Cannes, it appeared only as a side event during the film market, not in the festival's official program 4

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. Koosha noted that many traditional festivals resist AI content: "A lot of the traditional festivals just don't want to touch AI. They don't want to even talk about it. What I've realised is that no one wants to be first" 2

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