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As a part of the 14th BJIFF held in April 2024, the inaugural AIGC Film Shorts Section drew widespread engagement from all walks of life, as it was established as the first-ever specialized section in any festival and exhibition in China to involve high-profile AI-powered filmmaking. The official recommendations of the BJIFF AIGC Film Shorts Section have also been very well recognized both at home and abroad thanks to their superior artistic performances and technical prowess. Recently, To Dear Me, the best film of the AIGC Film Shorts Section of the 14th BJIFF, was honored with the First Prize of the inaugural Reply AI Film Festival in Venice.
Launched under the theme of "Synthetic Stories, Human Hearts," the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice seeks to showcase how AI can help enrich storytelling and generate insightful and meaningful stories. A total of over 1,000 film shorts from 59 countries and regions were featured in the competition. Following intense rounds of judgement, the best film of the AIGC Film Shorts Section of the 14th BJIFF, To Dear Me (致亲爱的自己), stood out from numerous other entries to win the first prize.
Screenshots of the venue from the official website of the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice
The venue scene of the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice
To Dear Me, an AI-generated microfilm on the theme of female growth, is directed by Gisele Tong, a young Chinese director, and co-created by the School of Animation and Digital Arts at Communication University of China and Ainimate Lab. Inspired by the theme of female growth, this short film tells the story of a young woman who encourages herself to identify herself, and learns how to mature, love herself, and show love to others.
This short film was also shortlisted for the Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF). Founded in 2003, the TIFF intends to establish itself as a global center of film culture, where film artists and enthusiasts from Albania can exchange ideas and collaborate with each other.
Screenshots of the short film To Dear Me
The cast for the Best Film of the 14th BJIFF AIGC Film Shorts Section Award Ceremony
The short film To Dear Me was debuted at the BJIFF AIGC Film Shorts Section where it received the Best Film accolade. The highly compatibility of this short film's unique artistic style rendered by the use of AI with its well-defined narrative approach exemplifies the cast team's skillful mastery of the fusion of new technology and art, making it widely acclaimed by both the industry insiders and the general audience. This First Prize at the Reply AI Film Festival in Venice is undoubtedly a tremendous endorsement for Chinese filmmakers who are adventurous in exploring new technologies and determined to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.
It is our expectation that more creators will apply AI tools to filmmaking in the future, so that they can play a bigger role to help deliver even more exciting film shorts in the BJIFF AIGC Film Shorts Section.