Into the spider’s lair: how an Australian film-maker made an impossible documentary with AI

The Guardian Environment Monday 06 July 2026, 15:00 UTC By Kelly Burke 1 min read

Key Points

Jodie Heenan says her award-winning short film Guardians of the Burrow ‘looks and feels’ real Scene: a dimly lit underground burrow. A giant Amazonian tarantula and a tiny dotted humming frog share the space, an unlikely duo captured in extraordinary detail. Except, they haven’t been.

Jodie Heenan says her award-winning short film Guardians of the Burrow ‘looks and feels’ real

Scene: a dimly lit underground burrow. A giant Amazonian tarantula and a tiny dotted humming frog share the space, an unlikely duo captured in extraordinary detail.

Except, they haven’t been. Guardians of the Burrow, a short “wildlife documentary” by the Australian digital content designer Jodie Heenan, is entirely AI generated. At the weekend it won a prize in the Omni international AI film festival, adjudicated by a panel led by The Crow and Dark City director – and AI advocate – Alex Proyas.

Australian (ORG) Jodie Heenan (PERSON) Amazonian (ORG) Burrow (ORG) AI (ORG) The Crow and Dark City (ORG) Alex Proyas (PERSON)

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Into the spider’s lair: how an Australian film-maker made an impossible documentary with AI

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