Dedicated to exploring the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, South Korea's Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has announced a 15-film AI Film Competition.
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The films will compete for jury and audience choice awards, as well as a cash prize of up to 1.5 million won ($11,000).
“We were able to see new creative possibilities in AI filmmaking. We hope that creators who find it difficult to secure large-scale production funding will be able to gain creative freedom from production costs through AI,” said Shin Cheol, director of BiFan Film Festival.
Festival judges said they chose their lineup from 114 submitted films based on narrative quality, artistic quality, originality and the use of AI technology in text, audio and video.
“The diverse styles of works selected range from feature films to video art, showcasing the current state of development of generative AI video technology in the creative field. We were able to see the potential and possibilities that AI technology can bring to young creators who face many challenges in producing with limited budgets and resources.”
The 15 selected films are from France, the United States, Japan and Singapore, with four from South Korea. “One More Pumpkin,” directed by Hansul Von Kwon, previously won the Grand Prix and Audience Award at the Dubai AI Film Festival. Others include “Under the Sign of the Moon” by Park Seong-won, “Snowfall” by Bae Jun-won and “Final Scene” by Cha Se-hwan. All four films demonstrate the perfect image and sound that modern AI technology can achieve today, and stand out for their brilliant imagination, innovative scripts and character realization, the festival said.
The first BiFan Plus AI conference, taking place from July 5 to 7, will invite international leaders in AI filmmaking to speak about the impact of AI technology on film content production. The festival, taking place from July 4 to 14 in Bucheon, adjacent to Seoul, will also host AI workshops and mentoring.
BiFan 2024 AI Film Competition
“Another” Director: Dave Clark (USA) 5 min.
“Be An Elephant” Director: Gurkan Atakan (Türkiye) 2 mins
“Final Scene” Director Cha Se-hwan (Korea) 4 mins
“Generation” Director: Riccardo Fusetti (UK) 2 mins
“Improvement Cycle” Director: Hiroki Yamaguchi (Japan) 6 mins
“Kiss/Crash” Director: Adam Cole (UK) 1 min
“Latex Kid” Director: Fran Gas (Spain) 10 min
“Mic-Mac at Cirque du Freak” Director: Ethereal Gwirl (USA) 3 mins
“One More Pumpkin” Director: Hansul Von Kwon (Korea) 3 mins
“Snowfall” Director Bae Jun-won (Korea) 10 mins
“Treta” Director: Francesco Siro Brigano (Italy) 3 mins
“Under the Sign of the Moon” Director: Park Seong-won (Korea) 5 mins
“We Are Good” Director: Niceaunties (Singapore) 1 min
“Where do grandmas go when they get lost?” Director: Leo Canone (France) 2 mins
“Unfortunately, You're an AI Artist” Director: Mind Wank (USA) 2 min
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