Cinema St. Louis, organiser of the St. Louis International Film Festival and the Filmmakers Showcase, has adopted its first AI policy. Announced on 27 August 2026, it covers submissions from 2027 onward and bars generative AI from creating any part of a film's creative content. Filmmakers must also disclose any AI use when they submit.
“This is probably not the final word on AI and filmmaking.”
Emmett Williams, Cinema St. Louis, to The St. Louis American · stlamerican.com ↗
The rule draws a line between assistive tools, such as those used in VFX, editing and post-production, and generative systems that produce substantial creative material. Only the first kind is allowed. A public-radio report says such films will no longer screen, though that page could not be opened here.
Promotional banner for the town hall and screening of the short Anomaly
Image: Cinema St. Louis
The trigger was Anomaly, a 12-minute sci-fi short by local filmmaker Jack Snyder, shown at this July's Showcase. Its script, voices and edit are human, but its visuals are AI-generated. The organisation held a public screening and panel on 25 July at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, with Snyder, SAG-AFTRA chief counsel Sarah Fowler and Hysteria Fest director Paul Hibbard. One filmmaker pulled their film from the Showcase in protest. Under the new rules Anomaly would not qualify, though it has since drawn an offer of initial funding for a feature version with real actors.
Cinema St. Louis says it took no side and wanted community input first, noting it sees more films with some generative AI each year and that opinion is polarised. Snyder says he understands the decision and regards the film as an experiment. The policy does not touch the 2026 festival, running 5 to 15 November, because selection was already under way, and the organisation expects the debate to continue.