“Hyperphantasia is a condition characterized by exceptionally vivid mental imagery that rivals real-world perception, often described as a "mental cinema".

Affecting roughly 1-3% of the population, it is the opposite of aphantasia (no mental imagery).”

“HYPERPHANTASIA” Jury

We approach with curiosity - 

We are living through a moment in visual culture that will not be repeated. The tools are new, the medium is being defined, and the question of what constitutes authorship is very much in the hands of people who are creating and consuming. This is a new territory to be explored with curiosity. As artists, builders, thinkers and creators we get the chance to develop what we want to see and cultivate and help define quality. OMNI Hyperphantasia brings together a jury that reflects the full breadth of what AI cinema can be and where it may be heading.

Alex Proyas, director of The Crow, Dark City, and I, Robot, is one of the few filmmakers in history who is building his artistic reputation on AI as a creative medium, having produced an entirely AI-generated feature and developed a new AI-enabled project that pushes cinema into genuinely uncharted territory. 

Yan Chen, Studio Architect for Kennedy Miller Mitchell and CEO of AuroraAI, has spent decades building the invisible infrastructure behind Hollywood's most ambitious productions and now sits at the frontier of what generative AI means for the future of storytelling and VFX.

Clayton Jacobson, the award-winning Australian director behind Kenny and Brothers' Nest, brings deep craft instinct and a filmmaker's eye to the jury, grounded in both celebrated mainstream cinema and his own evolving practice in AI filmmaking with Gunshy Cowboys. 

Thea-Mai Baumann, CEO of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and founder of the world-first hologram brands Metaverse Makeovers and 超宇美人, brings rare curatorial vision at the intersection of art, culture, and immersive technology. 

Rounding out the jury, Professor Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist at UNSW's AI Institute and one of the world's foremost voices on AI ethics, ensures that the work screened at Hyperphantasia is both relevant gives it context and place in the global AI discussion

Alex Proyas