OMNI 1.5 Hyperphantasia, presented by Envato, opens for global entries April 28. Premiering Sydney, July 2026. AI cinema. No limits on tools. Only storytelling.
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, April 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OMNI International AI Film Festival Announces OMNI 1.5 “HYPERPHANTASIA” Call for Entries Opens April 28 — Premiers in Sydney, July 2026
April 2026
OMNI International AI Film Festival today announced its third major edition, OMNI 1.5 “Hyperphantasia”- presented by Envato. Following a successful screening of a three-day program in Shanghai, China, a global call for new AI-generated films is now opening for entries April 28, 2026, with a premiere screening and awards ceremony to be held in Sydney, Australia in July, 2026.
The festival invites filmmakers and creators worldwide to submit works between one minute and four hours in length, with a minimum of 90% AI-generated content. Submissions are unrestricted by model, software, or technology. The sole criteria are compelling storytelling and the visually extraordinary.
The edition title is drawn from the neurological phenomenon of hyperphantasia; a condition affecting roughly 1-3% of the population, characterised by exceptionally vivid mental imagery that rivals real-world perception. For OMNI 1.5, it serves as both an aesthetic benchmark and a provocation: what becomes possible when the barriers between imagination and image collapse entirely?
OMNI 1.5 “Hyperphantasia” is presented by Envato, a global leader in creative technology and a Shutterstock subsidiary, whose platform empowers millions of creative professionals with the world’s broadest range of commercial-ready stock assets alongside purpose-built AI capabilities. The partnership unites two organisations at the same intersection: where creative ambition meets the tools to realize it. Where the world’s broadest stock catalog meets AI; for OMNI 1.5, that meeting point is the screen. OMNI 1.5 celebrates that progression together with Envato.
OMNI- Curation of AI Cinema
Now in its seventh call for entries, OMNI has established itself as the leading international festival dedicated to AI-native cinema. With a core focus on curatorial quality and cultural discourse, OMNI is presenting the very best of this emerging visual medium. Following major editions, OMNI 0.5 Visions of Tomorrow and OMNI 1.0 Iterations, the festival is building a global community of creators experimenting at the frontier of generative storytelling. OMNI 1.5 expects to receive in excess of 5,000 film submissions from across the globe.
Awards, OMNI 1.5 Hyperphantasia
Joining traditional awards as well as AI-specific categories are new Awards recognising exceptional “AI performances” as well as the Envato Pattern Recognition Award for the most creative fusion of Stock imagery. This is the first OMNI event to offer cash prizes.
Awards and prizes will be presented across the following categories:
– ‘HYPERPHANTASIA Best Picture’ Award
– ‘Signal to Noise’ Award
– ‘The Envato Pattern Recognition’ Award, recognising the most creative fusion of stock imagery, AI, and cinematic intent.
– Best Visuals
– Best Score
– Best Editing
– Best Script
– OMNI Golden AI Performance (new category)
– OMNI Silver AI Performance (new category)
Call for Entries
Submissions open April 28, 2026 at www.omnifilmfestival.com Entries close: June 9, 2026
OMNI 1.5 arrives at a moment when generative film is moving from experimentation to established cinema. The films we expect to receive will go beyond demonstration of what the tools can do; they will show what a human imagination, working with generative tools can create. Hyperphantasia, the title of the edition, perfectly captures what these tools make capable. We are eager to explore films that resonate on this edge of imagination, now made more accessible with generative AI sound and visuals.
“From our first conversation with OMNI, what stood out wasn’t just the quality of the films, it was the intent behind them,” said Arlyn Panopio, Head of Brand and Creative at Envato. “There’s so much noise right now about what AI can do, but HYPERPHANTASIA shifts the focus to what it really takes to push an idea further: sweating every detail and bringing to life a vision that exists only in your imagination. That kind of creative obsession. That’s the conversation we wanted to be part of. We can’t wait to see what this community brings to the screen.”
“Hyperphantasia is a challenge as much as it is a theme,” said Travis Rice, Co-Founder of OMNI International AI Film Festival. “We are asking creators to work at the edge of what they can imagine and then go further. The films that rise to that will change how people think about what generative cinema is capable of.”
About OMNI International AI Film Festival
OMNI is the Southern hemisphere’s first International AI Film festival and the leading global community celebrating cinematic generative filmmaking. Founded in 2024, OMNI operates across festival, distribution, and production with an international reach of screenings that have spanned Australia, China, Japan, India, and the USA. OMNI exists to advance the cultural conversation around generative AI as a serious and rapidly evolving medium for storytelling. Widely recognised by critics and Filmmakers, OMNI is showcasing the very best and highest quality AI Films from human filmmakers around the world.
OMNI has been recognized by critics and creators as the only global AI film festival that understands what traditional quality in filmmaking means when applied to AI cinema; consistently showing films that highlight craft, editing and a mastery of story can only be found in the award-winning films curated by the OMNI festival.
About Envato
A global leader in creative technology since 2006, Envato – a Shutterstock subsidiary – empowers millions of creative professionals with access to an all-in-one creative asset toolkit. It offers the world’s broadest range of commercial-ready stock assets, alongside purpose-built AI capabilities that allow creatives to find, create and refine what they need, fast.
Media Enquiries: Aryeh S, omni@omnifilmfestival.com
OMNI International AI Film Festival www.omnifilmfestival.com
Entries for OMNI 1.5 Hyperphantasia open April 28, 2026. www.omnifilmfestival.com
Aryeh Sternberg
OMNI International AI Film Festival
omni@omnifilmfestival.com
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OMNI 1.5 HYPERPHANTASIA – Presented by Envato
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