Instead of relying solely on closed, off-the-shelf AI products, a growing number of filmmakers are creating their own applications and integrating AI in their filmmaking on their own terms. Imagine: a forensic reconstruction algorithm designed to turn public footage into analyzable evidence; a computational reader for massive data analysis, a semantic search engine that allows a director to retrieve archival and rush material by meaning rather than by tag; and a voice system to assist a protagonist with specific needs. Each of the aforementioned tools was, in fact, built by the filmmakers at Artefacto Films—a Barcelona-based research and production studio—with an AI coding assistant, a practice now widely known as "vibecoding," in which plain speech is transformed into executable code. Their small library of internal tools sits beside the development desk, the camera, and the edit as essential parts of their trade—and perhaps it could be part of yours, too.
This workshop will open with an overview of how filmmakers are applying AI to nonfiction today, and how documentarians can use AI to create research, investigative, and workflow tools that work for us, by us. Artefacto Films' Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris will walk us through one of their applications and demonstrate how it was created. Attendees will leave with a concrete sense of what it means to build, not just use, AI inside a documentary practice.
Moderator: Sergio Lobo-Navia (Getting Real '26)
Facilitators: Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris (Artefacto Films)
Biographies (submitted by the speakers):
Jorge Caballero is a filmmaker, researcher, and educator, holding a Ph.D. cum laude in Cinema and Artificial Intelligence from Pompeu Fabra University. Co-founder of GusanoFilms and Artefacto, his films have screened at festivals such as TIFF, NYFF, IDFA, Rotterdam, HotDocs, SXSW, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, Viennale, and Visions du Réel, among many others, with support from the Tribeca Film Institute, ARTE, TVC, and broadcasters around the world.
He has twice won Colombia's National Documentary Award, for Bagatela (2009) and Nacer (2010), and was featured in Variety's "10 Producers to Watch." Paciente (2015) premiered at IDFA and won Best Director at FICCI Cartagena. Del Otro Lado (2021) world-premiered at Hot Docs and took Best International Documentary at DOCNYC. 09/05/1982 (2025), his latest work, premiered at FIDMarseille and was selected for TIFF Wavelengths, NY Currents, IDFA Paradocs, and the Viennale. He currently serves on the selection committee of the IDFA Bertha Fund.
Anna Giralt Gris is a filmmaker, producer, and researcher exploring the intersection of cinema, emerging technologies, and creative innovation. She is the co-founder and CEO of Artefacto, a Barcelona-based research and production studio focused on tech-driven methodologies and new narrative models. Her work has been selected at TIFF, NYFF, IFFR, CPH:DOX, SXSW, or IDFA among many. Her latest project “Membrana” was a finalist for the Lumen Prize 2025.
Instead of relying solely on closed, off-the-shelf AI products, a growing number of filmmakers are creating their own applications and integrating AI in their filmmaking on their own terms. Imagine: a forensic reconstruction algorithm designed to turn public footage into analyzable evidence; a computational reader for massive data analysis, a semantic search engine that allows a director to retrieve archival and rush material by meaning rather than by tag; and a voice system to assist a protagonist with specific needs. Each of the aforementioned tools was, in fact, built by the filmmakers at Artefacto Films—a Barcelona-based research and production studio—with an AI coding assistant, a practice now widely known as "vibecoding," in which plain speech is transformed into executable code. Their small library of internal tools sits beside the development desk, the camera, and the edit as essential parts of their trade—and perhaps it could be part of yours, too.
This workshop will open with an overview of how filmmakers are applying AI to nonfiction today, and how documentarians can use AI to create research, investigative, and workflow tools that work for us, by us. Artefacto Films' Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris will walk us through one of their applications and demonstrate how it was created. Attendees will leave with a concrete sense of what it means to build, not just use, AI inside a documentary practice.
Moderator: Sergio Lobo-Navia (Getting Real '26)
Facilitators: Jorge Caballero and Anna Giralt Gris (Artefacto Films)
Biographies (submitted by the speakers):
Jorge Caballero is a filmmaker, researcher, and educator, holding a Ph.D. cum laude in Cinema and Artificial Intelligence from Pompeu Fabra University. Co-founder of GusanoFilms and Artefacto, his films have screened at festivals such as TIFF, NYFF, IDFA, Rotterdam, HotDocs, SXSW, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, Viennale, and Visions du Réel, among many others, with support from the Tribeca Film Institute, ARTE, TVC, and broadcasters around the world.
He has twice won Colombia's National Documentary Award, for Bagatela (2009) and Nacer (2010), and was featured in Variety's "10 Producers to Watch." Paciente (2015) premiered at IDFA and won Best Director at FICCI Cartagena. Del Otro Lado (2021) world-premiered at Hot Docs and took Best International Documentary at DOCNYC. 09/05/1982 (2025), his latest work, premiered at FIDMarseille and was selected for TIFF Wavelengths, NY Currents, IDFA Paradocs, and the Viennale. He currently serves on the selection committee of the IDFA Bertha Fund.
Anna Giralt Gris is a filmmaker, producer, and researcher exploring the intersection of cinema, emerging technologies, and creative innovation. She is the co-founder and CEO of Artefacto, a Barcelona-based research and production studio focused on tech-driven methodologies and new narrative models. Her work has been selected at TIFF, NYFF, IFFR, CPH:DOX, SXSW, or IDFA among many. Her latest project “Membrana” was a finalist for the Lumen Prize 2025.
