Filmhack: 100 creators, 48 hours and one cinema screen at Babelsberg
Filmmakers & Movie Nerds and Chapter41 bring a free, in-person AI filmmaking hackathon to the Filmuniversität Babelsberg on November 13–15. Applications close October 24.
Berlin/Potsdam. From pitch to finished short film in one weekend: Filmmakers & Movie Nerds e.V. and co-host Chapter41 invite AI creators and classic filmmakers to Filmhack, a 48-hour, in-person hackathon at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam. About 100 creators in 30+ teams take part from November 13 to 15, 2026. On Sunday night, their films premiere on a cinema screen on campus, followed by awards.
The weekend starts with hands-on sessions across the AI production pipeline: concept, image, motion, voice and sound, edit. The 48-hour clock runs from Friday 15:00 to Sunday 15:00. Directors and AI specialists work alongside the teams all weekend. On Thursday, November 12, an optional industry event with a panel opens the programme.
The venue is deliberate. Fritz Lang's Metropolis was shot at Babelsberg and premiered in Berlin in January 1927, using visual effects nobody had built before. Filmhack asks a question for the next century: where does AI actually improve the filmmaking process, and where does it not?
“Filmhack is the same room as our Movie Sprints, with one question added: where does AI actually improve the filmmaking process? Not where does it replace the filmmaker. There is a difference, and it matters.”Moritz Erdt, founder, Filmmakers & Movie Nerds
Participation is free and application-based. Applicants must be 18 or older and able to attend in person for the whole weekend. Applications are open until October 24 at filmhack.ai/apply, and acceptances go out by October 31. Prizes are provided by partners.
Filmhack is co-hosted by Chapter41 and supported by the Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (venue partner), LetzAI and inference.sh (tech partners), medianet berlinbrandenburg (network partner) and Medienstadt Babelsberg (enabler).
Press contact: Moritz Erdt, Filmmakers & Movie Nerds e.V., [email protected]. Photos, logos and fact sheet: filmhack.ai/presskit.
Filmmakers & Movie Nerds is a nonprofit registered association (gemeinnütziger e.V.) based in Berlin, built for people who love film and want to make it. The community runs Movie Sprints, workshops and screenings with one goal: moving people from watching to making. Entry is free and open: no experience, no equipment, no gatekeeping. Stop waiting – start creating!
