Merge Film Festival 2026

Merge Film Festival is a four-day film festival dedicated to artificial intelligence, held from 1 to 4 October 2026 at Cinema Lux in Massagno (Lugano). It is organised by PoPaCi Pictures, an audiovisual production company based in Ticino. The competition has three categories: Full AI (works created entirely with AI tools), Hybrid (films that combine traditional techniques with AI tools) and Experimental (video art made with AI). Films are shown in five competition programmes, each followed by a Q&A with the directors. The festival opens on 1 October at 20:30 with the opening ceremony and the film Memory of Princess Mumbi. Free sessions include the launch of FORMA APERTA by Centro Generativo, an open talk on where a film is made now that automation and distributed production spread the work across tools, teams and machines; a roundtable with Marco Zaffalon, Colin Porlezza, Javishth Chabria and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay; and conferences with Alessandro Bavari, Dario Cirrincione, Javishth Chabria and Kevin B. Lee. Single screenings cost CHF 15 (reduced CHF 10). The awards ceremony is on 4 October at 15:00. Price / conditions: free