The festival will feature screenings and talks focusing on the topics of artificial intelligence, art, and the environment. The event will kick off with opening remarks from Western’s Chief AI Officer and Professor Mark Daley and Executive Director of the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival Katherine Bruce. There will be other featured speakers throughout the day, including two programming directors from the Toronto International Film Festival and Karin and Shane Denson, who combine art with academics.
There will also be screenings of short and experimental films. All films will be under 7 minutes and deal with the topics of AI, environmental storytelling and sustainability. Selected filmmakers will receive travel fare to attend the festival in person and interact with attendees. Festivals and conferences like this often feature contributors in program and flyer printing. Promotional material for the event emphasizes the academic themes:
“This hybrid event creates space for dialogue, reflection, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, foregrounding AI as a terrain of struggle over the conditions of knowing, experiencing, and relating.”
The 2025 Western Film & Art Festival will take place on November 7 at the University Community Centre in London North.