First AI-Generated Script Takes Center Stage
Tokyo, Japan - The 2024 Asian Short Film Festival will spotlight global crises amidst conflict and disaster, showcasing the first-ever film written entirely by artificial intelligence (AI).
The festival, themed "Light Up Lives," aims to evoke empathy, provoke inquiry, and inspire through its curated lineup. One such film is "Palestine Islands," a French production set in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. It follows a young girl's persistent efforts to convince her blind grandfather that the Israeli separation wall dividing them from their ancestral home in Jaffa has collapsed.
Smartphone Cinema Captures Urgent Realities
In the smartphone film category, "Siren! Air Raid Alert! Head for Cover!" confronts another pressing conflict. The five-minute documentary from Ukraine is composed of raw footage captured by ordinary citizens amidst wartime.
Documentary Explores Aftermath of Earthquakes
Equally poignant, "Efe" is a documentary directed and filmed by journalist Shiori Ito, a prominent figure in Japan's #MeToo movement. The film reveals the struggle of a 14-year-old boy in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
AI-Assisted Cinema Makes Its Mark
Founded in 1999 by Japanese actor Tetsuya Bessho, the Asian Short Film Festival is Asia's only international short film festival with five competition categories, targeting the Oscars in subsequent years.
Held in a hybrid online and in-person format, this year's festival will screen approximately 270 films, selected from 4,936 submissions representing 114 countries and territories.
Keeping pace with technological advancements, the festival will feature a range of AI-enhanced films.
Among them are "The Artificial Conjuring Circle," an Austrian experimental animated short film, the first to be entirely AI-generated, and "Dragon Gate," a Chinese short animated film using AI-created content in a water-ink painting style.
The event also debuts "Life Log Box," an online marketplace connecting short film creators with business opportunities.
The Asian Short Film Festival will run from June 4 to 17 at various venues in Tokyo, Japan. Selected films are also available to stream online through June 30.