AI can be a tool to empower creatives without resources – AI Film Award finalists

Two Filipino creators of Portrait No. 72, a short film created with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence (AI), said AI is not a threat to human creativity but merely a tool to assist in production for those without the means. Portrait No. 72  recently made it to the top five in Google’s international AI Film Award out of 3,500 entries. Co-presented with 1 Billion Followers Summit content creators expo, the top prize for the AI-assisted filmmaking competition is $1M.

The two Filipino finalists, Rodson Verr Suarez and Darryll Rapacon, created the nine-minute digital film with over 1,500 video generations using the AI platforms prescribed by the awarding body, but made sure to keep the storytelling and post-processing human-made.

“It is now easier, it makes the storytelling accessible to everyone since we are given these tools. They are now able to make their own stories. To us, this is just a product of lack of resources, lack of time,” Mr. Suarez said during Google’s intimate film viewing of Portrait No. 72at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig last Friday.

Mr. Suarez and Mr. Rapacon, who both have full-time jobs, saw AI as a new tool to speed up the production of storytelling.

“Aside from upskilling, like during the launch of Photoshop, a lot of people were against it because the process was sped up and everything but to us, this [AI] is just a new tool of storytelling. So just be open,” Mr. Suarez added.

Fresh from their entry as one of the top 5 finalists at the AI Film Award in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the filmmakers acknowledged people’s mixed opinions on the integration of artificial intelligence in movies, which they have experienced during the two-month process of their filmmaking. 

“When we created this, we really hoped that it will open people’s minds about how to use AI in telling stories. That creating films like this is not just one prompt, that AI is not just a heartless video,” Mr. Rapacon said.

Mr. Suarez and Mr. Rapacon, as video editors themselves, expounded on the application of a human’s touch in AI-generated works through keeping the story entirely human-made and drawn from personal experiences. 

The photorealistic Portrait No. 72 explores the life of a death photographer, set in Varanasi, India. The two creators opted to explore grief, having lost their loved ones in 2025.

“I want to emphasize how the enemy here is not AI. The real enemy are the people who think that AI can replace humans because that’s not the case. At the end of the day, it’s our heart and our mind, both me and Rodson, that really made this film powerful,” Mr. Rapacon said.

The film can be viewed at the 1 Billion Followers Summit website. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel