Assyriska FF’s AI film “Awake, Son of Assyria” has officially been nominated for the Cannes AI Film Festival. The film, created in collaboration with award-winning AI filmmaker Toby Hyder, is now in the running for an award.
Huyada has written about the project in two previous posts, which provided an overview of the project in its early stages, as well as in a longer interview with Assyriska’s chairman, Moussa Esa.
The film premiered on February 8, 2026, during the commemoration of Naum Faiq and the Assyrian pioneers, drawing a large audience at the Assyrian Association in Södertälje.
The film has been available on YouTube for some time and has now been nominated for an award at the Cannes AI Film Festival.
The following text can be read in the filmmaker's Instagram post:
“Commissioned by Assyriska FF, the Assyrian national team, the project explores a people whose heritage stretches from the great cities of antiquity to the modern soccer field.”
[…]
“It’s stories like this that made me fall in love with AI filmmaking from the very beginning. The opportunity for smaller teams and independent creators to tell culturally significant stories on a cinematic scale feels genuinely transformative.”
The nomination is further proof that“Awake, Son of Assyria”has attracted attention far beyond Södertälje—and evidence that the history of the Assyrian people deserves its place on the international stage.
