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Going all-in on its exploration of the role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has unveiled a 15-title AI Film competition.

The films will compete for jury-selected and audience awards and cash prizes of up to KRW1.5 million ($11,000).

“We were able to see the new creative possibilities of AI filmmaking. We hope that creators who have difficulty accessing capital for big productions will gain creative freedom from production costs through AI,” said BiFan festival director Shin Chul.

Festival selectors said that they chose the lineup from 114 films submitted, based on narrative, artistry, originality and the use of AI technology in text (screenplay), audio, and video.

“The diverse styles of the selected works, ranging from feature films to video art, showcase the current state of development of the generative AI video technology in the creative field. The potential and possibilities that AI technology can bring to young creators, who face many challenges in production with limited budgets and resources, have been confirmed.”

The 15 selected titles hail from France, the U.S., Japan and Singapore include four from South Korea. Hansl Von Kwon’s “One More Pumpkin” previously won the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the Dubai AI Film Festival. Others are Park Sungwon’s “Under the Sign of the Moon,” Bae Junwon’s “Snowfall,” and Cha Sehwan’s “Final Scene.” All four works showcase the image and sound perfection that modern AI technology can implement today, and stand out through brilliant imagination, fresh screenplays, and character realization,” the festival said.

Leading international experts in AI film production will be invited to speak about the impact of AI technology on the production of film content at the inaugural edition of the BiFan Plus AI Conference, which runs July 5-7. AI workshops and mentoring will also be held during the festival which runs July 4 to 14 in Bucheon City, adjacent to Seoul.

BiFan 2024 AI Film Competition

“Another” Dir. Dave Clark (U.S.) 5 mins.

“Be An Elephant” Dir. Grukan Atakan (Turkey) 2 mins.

“Final Scene” Dir. Cha Sehwan (Korea) 4 mins.

“Generation” Dir. Riccardo Fusetti (U.K.) 2 mins.

“Improvement Cycle” Dir. Yamguchi Hiroki (Japan) 6 mins.

“Kiss/Crash” Dir. Adam Cole (U.K.) 1 min.

“Latex Kid” Dir. Fran Gas (Spain) 10 mins.

“Mic-Mac at Cirque du Freak” Dir. Ethereal Gwirl (U.S.) 3 mins.

“One More Pumpkin” Dir. Hansl Von Kwon (Korea) 3 mins.

“Snowfall” Dir. Bae Junwon (Korea) 10 mins.

“Treta” Dir. Francesco Siro Brigano (Italy) 3 mins.

“Under the Sign of the Moon” Dir. Park Seongwon (Korea) 5 mins.

“We Are Good” Dir. Niceaunties (Singapore) 1 min.

“Where Do Grandmas Go When They Get Lost?” Dir. Leo Cannone (France) 2 mins.

“You Are, Unfortunately, an A.I Artist” Dir. Mind Wank (U.S.) 2 mins.

Written by Patrick Frater

Link: https://variety.com/2024/film/asia/ai-film-competition-bucheon-festival-1236025696/