Filmmakers
Filmmakers whose films were chosen to appear in the 2025 Seattle AI Film Festival.
Hussein Dembel Sow
Senegal
Hussein Dembel Sow is a Senegalese filmmaker, screenwriter, and visual artist exploring the intersection of cinema and artificial intelligence. With over 15 years of experience in character animation, he now uses AI as a storytelling medium—fine-tuning image models, generating cinematic worlds, and pushing the boundaries of visual narrative. Founder of Agence Cataracte, he is part of a new generation of African creators using emerging technologies to tell bold, culturally-rooted stories. For him, AI is not just a tool—it’s a new language for African cinema.
Thiaroye 44
This film retells the Thiaroye Massacre of 1944 when French Colonial troops opened fire on unarmed Senegalese soldiers returning from Europe during WWII. The Senegalese had fought for France against the Germans and had protested their living conditions and lack of pay upon returning.