It Was Just a Joke

It Was Just a Joke is a comedy short of about five and a half minutes (333 seconds) written, directed, generated and edited by Myrzakhan Zhumakhan, a Kazakhstani AI filmmaker. He published it on his YouTube channel on 24 August 2026, where it can be watched in full.

The video description says Seedance 2.5 was used for the AI video generations and credits Zhumakhan alone with directing, generating and editing. No page read names other models or tools for this film.

The film took the Best Character award in the open competition of the first Astana AI Film Festival, with winners announced in Astana on 3 October 2026. Press reports say the festival drew 8,067 entries from 125 countries and that 25 films reached the final. Zhumakhan also competed in other categories, among them story, visual language, direction and concept, but won Best Character.

Kazakh outlets describe Zhumakhan as 27 years old. Tribune quotes him as saying his enjoyment of pranks and humor inspired the story. His Instagram bio calls him a film director and content creator and mentions Higgsfield contest wins, and a Kazakh digital-business account credited him with a Higgsfield Action Contest result in March 2026. He makes AI-video tutorial content in Russian and Kazakh.