Shamila Lengsfeld

Shamila Lengsfeld is a German-Iranian director, screenwriter, and AI filmmaker. She works at the intersection of classic live-action film, visual effects, and AI-supported production methods. She was awarded the German Young Filmmaker Award for her science fiction short film BLAKE. Her work is characterized by visually ambitious genre storytelling, strong female and queer perspectives, and socially relevant themes. After studying digital filmmaking at the SAE Institute Cologne and the New York Film Academy, Shamila developed a strong interest in visual effects and hybrid forms of production. She now uses this knowledge to explore new visual possibilities and make complex visual worlds feasible even on limited budgets. In recent years, she has been intensively involved with the use of artificial intelligence in film. Her expertise covers the entire filmmaking process—from story development, pitch visualization, and previsualization to AI-supported VFX and scene extensions to completely AI-generated short formats. In addition to her own projects, she advises production companies, writers, and directing teams on the strategic integration of AI into film and series development. Alongside her practical work, Shamila is a regular speaker and panelist on the topic of AI in the film industry. She has given an opening keynote at LEaT con, spoken on AI panels at the Berlinale – including for the German Camera Association – and will lead a masterclass at the Berlinale 2026. Her focus is on practical AI workflows, a realistic assessment of opportunities and limitations, and questions of responsibility, bias, and creative authorship. Shamila Lengsfeld sees AI not as a substitute, but as a creative tool.