South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) is fully committed to exploring the impact of artificial intelligence in the world of filmmaking. To showcase this, BiFan has announced a competition for 15 AI films.
These films will be vying for jury-selected and audience awards, with cash prizes of up to KRW1.5 million ($11,000) up for grabs.
BiFan festival director Shin Chul expressed excitement about the new creative possibilities that AI filmmaking brings. He hopes that creators who struggle to secure funding for large-scale productions can find creative freedom through AI, as it reduces production costs.
The festival’s selectors carefully curated the lineup from a pool of 114 submissions. Their criteria included evaluating the films based on narrative, artistry, originality, and the utilization of AI technology in areas such as text (screenplay), audio, and video.
The selected works in the festival represent a wide range of styles, including feature films and video art, and they showcase the current state of generative AI video technology in the creative field. These works demonstrate the potential and possibilities that AI technology can offer to young creators who often face production challenges due to limited budgets and resources.
The festival features 15 titles from France, the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and four from South Korea. Among them, Hansl Von Kwon’s “One More Pumpkin” has previously won the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the Dubai AI Film Festival. Other notable works include Park Sungwon’s “Under the Sign of the Moon,” Bae Junwon’s “Snowfall,” and Cha Sehwan’s “Final Scene.” These four works stand out for their exceptional image and sound quality achieved through modern AI technology, as well as their imaginative storytelling, fresh screenplays, and well-developed characters, according to the festival organizers.
The BiFan Plus AI Conference, taking place from July 5-7, will feature renowned international AI film production experts discussing the impact of AI technology on film content creation. The conference is part of the inaugural edition of BiFan, a festival held in Bucheon City, adjacent to Seoul, from July 4 to 14.
During the festival, attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in AI workshops and receive mentoring sessions. These activities aim to provide valuable insights into the integration of AI technology in the film industry.
As part of the BiFan 2024 AI Film Competition, a selection of short films will be showcased. The lineup includes “Another” directed by Dave Clark (U.S.) with a duration of 5 minutes, “Be An Elephant” directed by Grukan Atakan (Turkey) with a duration of 2 minutes, “Final Scene” directed by Cha Sehwan (Korea) with a duration of 4 minutes, “Generation” directed by Riccardo Fusetti (U.K.) with a duration of 2 minutes, “Improvement Cycle” directed by Yamguchi Hiroki (Japan) with a duration of 6 minutes, “Kiss/Crash” directed by Adam Cole (U.K.) with a duration of 1 minute, “Latex Kid” directed by Fran Gas (Spain) with a duration of 10 minutes, “Mic-Mac at Cirque du Freak” directed by Ethereal Gwirl (U.S.) with a duration of 3 minutes, “One More Pumpkin” directed by Hansl Von Kwon (Korea) with a duration of 3 minutes, “Snowfall” directed by Bae Junwon (Korea) with a duration of 10 minutes, and “Treta” directed by Francesco Siro Brigano (Italy) with a duration of 3 minutes.
Here are some short films from various countries:
- “Under the Sign of the Moon” directed by Park Seongwon from Korea, with a duration of 5 minutes.
- “We Are Good” directed by Niceaunties from Singapore, with a duration of 1 minute.
- “Where Do Grandmas Go When They Get Lost?” directed by Leo Cannone from France, with a duration of 2 minutes.
- “You Are, Unfortunately, an A.I Artist” directed by Mind Wank from the U.S., with a duration of 2 minutes.