Colibri Project

Colibri is an independent software initiative to rethink how we handle media in the age of AI — without sacrificing autonomy, privacy, or creative freedom. Today, media professionals, journalists, researchers and cultural institutions face an explosion of heterogeneous content: video, audio, images, text. Yet the best AI tools for analysis and search remain locked behind expensive, cloud-only subscriptions — limiting control over data and restricting use in sensitive contexts. Colibri aims to change that. We’re building a locally executable, modular platform that runs powerful AI models directly on your own machine. Think transcriptions, image analysis, semantic search and cross-media linking — all offline, privacy-first, and ready for project-based workflows from documentary film to archival research. With mindmaps, timelines and intuitive search tools, Colibri supports complex storytelling and research, while giving users true data sovereignty. We’re at prototype phase heading towards MVP stage and developing in close cooperation with the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, who will act as a real-world test environment to ensure Colibri meets the needs of modern media practice. If you’re interested in AI, media innovation, digital sovereignty or just a better way to manage your archives — follow along. We’re just getting started.