Tunisian Zoubeir Jlassi wins $1million AI film award for 'Lily'

Tunisian filmmaker Zoubeir Jlassi has won the first $1million AI film award for his short movie 'Lily'.

Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and member of the Dubai Council, honoured the winner and highlighted how the award "will help drive and grow the digital content industry, while encouraging young people to innovate".

She added that the award reflects "the UAE's commitment to nurture talent that "shapes the future of the cultural and creative industries".

The first-of-its-kind award for AI films was launched in collaboration with Google Gemini at the fourth edition of the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.

The nine-minute French-language short is created entirely using Google’s generative AI tools.

Organisers said the movie was chosen for using "digital tools to create drama with an ethical message".

Latifa bint Mohammed honors Zoubeir Jlassi, winner of the world’s largest AI Film Award at $1 million in collaboration with Google Gemini pic.twitter.com/dCRZCN5OlQ

— UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) January 10, 2026

More than 30,000 participants from 116 countries had participated in the competition, organisers said, adding that the jury reviewed films that clocked a total screen time of over 400 hours.

The top five movies will be premiered at the 1 Billion Followers Summit.