In a world shattered by warring AI armies, a prompt engineer and a cyber warrior race to upload a recording of children meditating that is so powerful it could stop the last weaponized AI faction from gaining ultimate power. Hope emerges not through conflict, but through the birth of a new AI trained for benevolence named Ahimsa.Ahimsa is an animated AI short film,
an official entry to the 98th Academy Awards for Best Animated Short,
and an official entry to the 53rd Annie Awards for Best Short Subject.AVAILABLE NOW ON THE ACADEMY SCREENING ROOM
AND AT THE ANNIE AWARDS INDEE SCREENING ROOM
Ahimsa was created using a hybrid workflow of AI, Mo Cap, and traditional animation techniques such as key framing and compositing. Animation was human driven not synthetic. Actor performances were filmed, then AI interpreted the body movements, arm and hand gestures, facial expressions, and vocal performances. These gave characters natural movement and emotional authenticity. Traditional editing and compositing techniques unified these elements into a cinematic whole.But Ahimsa is not about the tech or the techniques, it's about the handcrafted story and its timely message of resistance, sacrifice, and compassion brought to life through AI-assisted animation wrapped around human performance."Much like when Pixar's Tiny Toy CGI short premiered in 1988,
I hope Ahimsa will usher in a new look to animation."Craig Lew
Kavi a Junior Prompt Engineer with a conscience teams up with
Lina a Cyber Warrior with legendary skills
to stop the last weaponized AI faction from achieving ultimate power.
The code we upload today will be the conscience of tomorrow.
Craig Lew worked as a crew of one to produce Ahimsa from the story concept by Tina A. Barnett.
Dino Herrmann designed the sound, produced the original score and 5.1 theatrical mix.
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