​ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

​With AI now capable of generating photorealistic images and cloning voices, documentary filmmakers face an urgent question: How can we maintain trust and integrity when any image or sound could be synthetic?

​This one-day workshop hosted by film studio Artefacto goes beyond the hype and fear to offer practical frameworks for working responsibly with AI tools. Rather than mindlessly adopting or rejecting these technologies, you'll learn to harness them transparently—developing workflows that make your process visible and your uncertainties explicit.

​“Documentary's future depends not on refusing generative tools, but on wielding them with the humility and rigor the form has always demanded”.

​– Artefacto

​WHAT WE’LL DO
Through four hands-on exercises, you'll work directly with AI tools to understand how they see, interpret, and generate audiovisual material:

​• Deconstruct machine vision with Google Studio—discovering the biases and blind spots in how AI analyzes images

​ • Practice archival mimesis with FloraFauna —attempting to create synthetic images that match historical photographs, then critically examining what succeeded and what failed

​ • Reconstruct historical audio with GoogleColab + ElevenLabs API —exploring the ethics of "filling gaps" in degraded recordings using AI tools

​ • Design transparent workflows with FloraFauna —mapping how to integrate captured, archival, and synthetic materials while maintaining documentary credibility and prototyping workflow in Flora

​You'll leave with concrete frameworks (including the CEI method: Congruence, Evidence, Uncertainty) and practical experience using AI tools as collaborators rather than replacements for human judgment.

​WHO IT IS FOR
Documentary filmmakers, film students, media professionals, researchers, and creatives curious about the intersection of AI and storytelling. While prior AI experience is not a hard requirement—some experience with image and video generation tools would be recommended. 

​PRACTICALITIES
📍 Netherlands Film Academy, Amsterdam
🗓 14th November 10:00 - 17:00 CEST
⏰ Full day workshop (join only if you can attend the full day)
💰 Free attendance
🎫 RSVP required—limited seats available

​If you have any accessibility needs, please don't hesitate to reach out so we can discuss how to best accommodate them.

ABOUT ARTEFACTO

​Artefacto is a centre for research, production, and innovation in film and technology with the mission to foster the critical and creative use of technology in cinema and artificial intelligence.

​They have a long history in the production of non-fiction cinema, with premieres at the most relevant festivals worldwide, such as TIFF, NYFF, SXSW, IDFA, HOTDOCS, or CPH:DOX, among others, while also partnering with Runway, Sónar+D, Hugging Face, and prominent universities like UPF and UAB. Driven by Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris, they are based in Barcelona with global collaborative networks.

​Led by Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris, Artefacto is based in Barcelona and operates through a global network of collaborators.
Learn more at artefactofilms.com/en

​This workshop is part of ongoing research AI Greenhouse by the Netherlands Film Academy and AIxDESIGN.

​ABOUT AI GREENHOUSE

​AI Greenhouse is a two-year collaboration between the Netherlands Film Academy and AIxDESIGN to research and cultivate (more) responsible approaches to AI in filmmaking and film education.

​Led by artist-researchers Nadia Piet and Pablo Núñez Palma, AI Greenhouse will organize a public event program and create the Creative’s AI Literacy Cookbook — a set of experimental pedagogy practices to contribute to the ethical, sustainable and community-driven integration of AI in filmmaking.

​ABOUT NETHERLANDS FILM ACADEMY

​The Netherlands Film Academy (NFA) is part of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, and the only film school in The Netherlands that trains emerging filmmakers in all subdisciplines: directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound, production design, visual effects, and interactive media. Based in Amsterdam, it offers hands-on, collaborative education with state-of-the-art facilities and strong industry partnerships.

​ABOUT AIxDESIGN

​AIxDESIGN (AIxD) is an independent organization conducting critical and creative research on AI. We challenge mainstream tech narratives by making space for the rest of us — centering intersectional, inclusive, and ethical approaches through community-led projects. Learn more at aixdesign.co.