Dreams of Violets, a 75-minute docudrama feature inspired by January protests in Iran, has been accepted for the 2026 Tribeca Festival and will premiere on June 10. Every image and person in the film was AI-generated, while the story is based on journalistic reports, photographs, and eyewitness accounts about the massacre of Iranian civilians by Iranian government forces in January. The plot follows five strangers hiding in an alley as Iranian forces execute wounded protesters, with Amir, a child in a wheelchair, watching and deciding to act. The film was produced by Fountain 0 in three months using multiple AI tools for video generation, language-related editing, research, and imagery, with a reported budget of $2,000.
"According to a press release, every image and person in Dreams of Violets was AI-generated, but the film is based on "journalistic reports, photographs, and eyewitness accounts" from "the massacre of Iranian civilians by Iranian government forces in January.""
""Dreams of Violets is a 75-minute docudrama feature inspired by real events from 47 years of Iranian civilian resistance," reads the official logline. "Through the eyes of five strangers, it brings protest footage to life with raw immediacy. At dawn, as Iranian forces execute wounded protesters, a violent soldier discovers the five hiding in a dead-end alley. Above them, Amir, a child in a wheelchair, watches from a window and decides to act.""
"The movie's creators, brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha, were born in Iran and left the country in 2009. Their production company, Fountain 0, made Dreams of Violets in three months, using Kling AI for video generation, Anthropic's Claude AI for language-related editing, Google's Gemini and Nanobanana for research and imagery, and Fountain 0's own technology for blocking and frame accuracy. The film is described as "indistinguishable" from a fully human-made independent film."
"In a statement, Fountain 0 Executive Chairman Tom Rogers boasted of "incredibly efficient cost management techniques" which brought the budget down to $2,000. "I understand that an AI-generated film about people who actually died raises difficult questions," Ash Koosha said."
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