Unknown Artefact: Armenia’s First AI-generated Feature Film Wins Award at Prestigious International Festival

YEREVAN (Armradio) — Lilit Barseghyan’s film Unknown Artefact, created entirely using artificial intelligence, has won the Best AI Film award at the AI International Film Festival.

The film marks Armenia’s first artistic feature-length production fully generated with AI technologies. Completed in November 2025, Unknown Artefact was submitted to the international competition in December and received the award during the festival’s screening on December 14.

Lilit Barseghyan has previously produced several full-length and short documentary films. In 2025, she turned to artificial intelligence to create her first fictional feature film. Unknown Artefact is an entirely author-driven work: Barseghyan not only generated the film using AI tools, but also wrote the screenplay and composed the music. The film’s soundtrack was likewise created through AI, drawing on elements of Armenian and classical music. The film is in English and has a running time of 19 minutes.

Founded in 2021, the AI International Film Festival is the world’s first festival dedicated exclusively to films created using artificial intelligence. The independent festival features multiple award categories and hosts monthly screenings and competitions in Hollywood, accompanied by online screenings for international audiences.

On the festival’s official website, Unknown Artefact is described as “an unexpectedly powerful 19-minute dive into the depths of a fractured consciousnes – at once science fiction, psychological drama, and experimental fever dream.” The jury praised the film’s nonlinear structure, its purposeful use of visual distortions as metaphors for inner disintegration, and its restrained yet immersive cinematography, noting that the visual effects serve the story rather than overwhelm it.

The film tells the story of a young woman named Lili, who has achieved success in the art world as a curator and appears to have a fulfilled family life. Beneath this outward success, however, lies an unfulfilled ambition: to be recognized as a painter. Obsessed with leaving her mark, Lili attempts to inscribe her name in every imaginable place – from archives to mountaintops and even the ocean floor – while fearing failure as an artist. Her desire for fame ultimately pushes her to risk everything she has in pursuit of recognition as the greatest abstractionist of her time.

According to the director, Lili’s character reflects a common struggle: “She has the same problem as many people around us – constantly planning to create something, yet never taking the steps to do so.” The story takes an unexpected turn, serving as a reminder that, in the end, time preserves only what is truly real.

Commenting on the award, Barseghyan said that winning at such a prestigious international festival is both inspiring and motivating, encouraging her to move forward with new creative projects.