The increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into documentary filmmaking challenges long-established assumptions regarding cinematic truth, authenticity, and the ethical relationship between image and reality. This paper examines these issues through the production of the hybrid documentary The Council of All Beings, a film that combines observational documentary practices with selectively generated AI imagery. AI here is treated as a technological enhancement, a substitute for photographic evidence, but also as an aesthetic and conceptual device capable of expanding critical reflection while preserving the experiential qualities of observational cinema. Drawing upon theories of slow cinema, ecocriticism, and documentary ethics, the paper argues that restrained and transparent AI interventions can contribute to a contemplative viewing experience without undermining the documentary's relationship with reality. The discussion focuses on directorial decision-making concerning the degree, purpose, and visibility of AI-generated elements, demonstrating how minimal interventions can destabilize visual certainty, encourage ambiguity, and deepen audience engagement with ecological and philosophical questions. Audience responses from public screenings further suggest that viewers were less concerned with identifying AI-generated imagery than with the emotional and reflective experience produced by the film's hybrid aesthetic. The paper ultimately proposes a framework of good practice for AI integration in documentary filmmaking, advocating for its use as a tool for conceptual exploration. It concludes that the combination of observational documentary and slow cinema aesthetics with carefully controlled AI-generated imagery offers a productive direction for contemporary documentary practice, opening new possibilities for ethical image construction, while preserving the main qualities of documentary cinema.

Authors:
Yiannis Christidis, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Yiannis Christidis is an academic and artist, working as an Associate Professor at Cyprus University of Technology, Dept. of Fine Arts. He makes documentary films, while incorporating his Sound Studies background in his visual works.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yiannis-christidis-8396b234/

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