Sora takes Tribeca

OpenAI’s text-to-video platform Sora hasn’t yet been released to the public, but it’s making its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 15. The film festival will screen Sora Shorts: five original short films made using the tool. Established directors Nikyatu Jusu, Bonnie Discepolo, Ellie Foumbi, Reza Sixo Safai, and Michaela Ternasky-Holland will debut their Sora-made films this month and discuss their works in a panel conversation following the screening.

While tensions have flared between Hollywood unions and studios eager to incorporate AI into their productions, it’s unclear what filmmaking tasks can be effectively automated. Can a descriptive writer make an entire short film using just words? That’s the promise of Sora — if it can bring photorealistic AI video to life without glaring visual problems. (We’d also be curious how much time these films spent in Adobe Premiere after Sora did its work).

With rising concerns about deepfakes and convincing disinformation, the film festival will also be a chance to assess just how potent this technology really is. And who knows? Maybe before long you’ll have the tools to become an AI auteur yourself.