The 16th Beijing International Film Festival AIGC Film Section is now officially issuing a global call for entries. This event is guided by the Organizing Committee of the Beijing International Film Festival, hosted by the Communication University of China (CUC), and organized by the School of Animation and Digital Arts. We sincerely invite creators to take part with broad participation to jointly shape cinematic masterpieces for the intelligent era!
To the global pioneers exploring the arts of film and television and AI technology:
As the world's first film festival section dedicated to the co-creation of AI and imagery, the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) AIGC Film Section has entered its third year. It has evolved from an initial frontier exploration into a new global hub for AI filmmaking that commands international attention. Over the past three years, we have witnessed leaps in technology and seen an increasing number of young creators realize their cinematic dreams through the power of AI.
As the boundaries of imagery are being redefined, the original intention behind establishing this section remains unchanged—
Let technology and art advance in tandem, ensuring that art and literature return to a human-centered approach.
The 3rd AIGC Film Section will be centered on the core principle of 'Dual-Driven by Technology and Art,' aiming to foster a new synergy between creation, exchange, and industry within the AI cinema landscape. By harnessing global creative energy, we strive to establish China as a source of innovation and a leader in AIGC filmmaking. Our goal is to empower every creator to leverage the power of AI, utilizing new methods to tell the cinematic stories of our era.
Event backdrop：
Since the groundbreaking establishment of the AIGC Film Unit at the 14th Beijing International Film Festival, this section has served as a pivotal bridge connecting AI technology with cinematic art. It has continuously explored the innovative potential of artificial intelligence within the digital film and television sector, driving cross-industry integration and industrial upgrading. For the 15th AIGC Film Unit in 2025, we have adopted globalization and democratization as our core orientations. We have witnessed global creators using technology as their wings and creativity as their soul, resulting in a surge of exceptional AI-driven visual works that combine cutting-edge vision, social resonance, and artistic excellence. This year's unit will continue this core mission, further deepening the integration of AI technology and cinematic art to help more high-quality works and talented creators stand out.
Organizational Structure：
Guiding authorities
Office of the Organizing Committee of the Beijing International Film Festival
Host Organization
Communication University of China (CUC)
Exclusive All-Weather Strategic Partner
Tongyi Wanxiang
Undertaking organization
School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China (CUC)
Exclusive cooperation schemes involving third parties for the event
Tencent Video, Lingya Community
Co-organizers
China Film Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction Future Technology Research Institute
Academic Support Units
China Animation Association, Digital Human Research Institute of Communication University of China (CUC)
Specially Invited Partner Communities
StoryStorm (Collaborative Storytelling) and AI Island
Global strategic partnership
The HKUST AI Film Festival, the MUST International Youth Film Festival at the Macau University of Science and Technology, and the MIT AI Film Hackathon.
Collection Period and Scope
Call for Submissions: From now until the expiration of the declaration on March 30, 2026
Scope of Entries: AIGC-related films produced globally between January 1, 2025, and March 30, 2026.
Submission Requirements
This year's selection is divided into three major categories, with the overall requirements as follows:
[Feature Film Category]
Video duration: No less than 45 minutes.
Technical Requirements: The utilization rate of AI technology throughout the production process must be at least 50%.
[Short Film Category]
Video duration: 1 to 20 minutes.
Technical Requirements: AI technology must account for more than 70% of the production process.
[AI Drama Series Group]
Episode duration: 1 to 5 minutes.
Overall duration requirement: Entries must be series consisting of 8 episodes or more.
Submission Instructions: You must submit at least five complete episodes of the final production. Submissions consisting only of trailers will not be accepted. When submitting, please merge the content of all episodes into a single video file for upload.
Technical Requirements: The utilization rate of AI technology throughout the production process must exceed 50%.
General technical requirements:
1. The work must demonstrate a profound integration of AI and cinematic creation by employing artificial intelligence technology in a rational and creative manner across one or more dimensions, such as narrative innovation, aesthetic visual presentation, visual effects production, or sound art composition.
2. Submissions must be accompanied by a comprehensive creative statement detailing the types of AI technology employed, application scenarios, and implementation specifics. This includes, but is not limited to: the names and versions of AI tools used, the full content generation process, core prompts and key parameter configurations, screenshots of the creative workflow, descriptions of reference materials, and key screenshots or condensed video clips from the generation process. This statement will serve as the basic foundation for the assessment team to understand the creative logic and conduct technical audits.
3. Themes and Directions: There are no specific restrictions. Creators are encouraged to draw from diverse perspectives—such as contemporary social hotspots, cultural heritage, personal emotional expression, and internationalization—to develop AIGC works that possess intellectual depth, artistic resonance, and a sense of the modern era.
4. Video Format: MOV and MP4 formats are supported, with a resolution of no less than 1080P.
5. Eligibility: Open to film and television professionals, AI content creators, university faculty and students, and youth creative groups worldwide, regardless of nationality or age.
Honors and Awards
This year's AIGC Film Section will conduct a comprehensive evaluation centered on core dimensions such as technological innovation, artistic expression, and content integrity. The competition is divided into three main categories: Feature Films, Short Films, and AI Series.
[Feature Film Category Selection]
1. Best AIGC Feature Film (1 winner): This award recognizes an annual landmark work that achieves world-class excellence in narrative depth, audiovisual language, and the seamless integration of AI technology.
2. Best Director (1 award): To grant honors and rewards to a director or lead creator who demonstrates exceptional strategic coordination and artistic vision in the creation of a feature film.
3. Best Screenplay (1 winner): This award recognizes screenplay writing in long-form narratives that demonstrates rigorous logic, an exquisite structure, and deeply moving emotions.
4. Best Visual Effects (1 winner): This award recognizes visual presentations characterized by a consistent aesthetic texture, stunning special effects, and a style that showcases a strength unique to the production.
5. Best Sound Design (1 award): To grant honors and rewards for original scores that demonstrate excellence in atmosphere creation, emotional expression, and synchronization with the visuals.
6. Best Technological Breakthrough (1 award): To recognize a team that has achieved world-class standards and successfully implemented a comprehensive "industrialized workflow for AI-generated feature films."
[Short Film Category Selection]
1. Best Picture (1 award): This award recognizes a benchmark AIGC film that achieves an exceptional standard in narrative structure, directorial vision, emotional resonance, technical application, and overall artistic presentation. The winning work must offer a profound reflection of the human spirit, social realities, or emerging trends in technological development.
2. Best Creativity (1 entry): To recognize an AIGC film that breaks through traditional boundaries in its core concept, narrative structure, or visual language, demonstrating unique imagination and innovative thinking.
3. Best Art Direction (1 award): This category recognizes an AIGC film that demonstrates exceptional ingenuity in set design, costume styling, color palettes, and the creation of a distinct visual style, while possessing high aesthetic value and artistic recognition.
4. Best Visual Effects (1 winner): This award recognizes an AIGC film that has achieved breakthroughs in the application of visual effects technology and visual presentation, driving the innovative development of visual effects artistry in film and television.
5. Best Music (1 award): This category recognizes AIGC music videos that demonstrate excellence in original composition, sound design, sound effects creation, and the presentation of audio texture.
6. Technological Innovation (1 Award): To recognize AIGC films that have achieved significant breakthroughs in areas such as AI production workflow optimization, the integrated application of technology, and innovative practices in tool utilization.
7. Commercial Potential (1 award): This category recognizes AIGC films with clear market positioning and significant prospects for diversified commercial development and industrial value.
8. Outstanding Works (10 entries): To recognize AIGC films that demonstrate exceptional performance across multiple dimensions—including technical application, artistic expression, and content presentation—and fully showcase the potential for integrating AI with the art of film and television.
[AI Series Selection]
1. Best AI Series (1 winner): This award recognizes series that demonstrate comprehensive planning, high production values, and sustained audience appeal.
2. Best Art Direction (1 winner): This award recognizes excellence in art production, specifically for the construction of a series' understanding of the Universe and the maintenance of stylistic consistency.
3. Best Character Portrayal (1 winner): This award recognizes works featuring virtual characters that are dynamic, deliver vivid performances, and possess high recognizability.
4. Best Narrative Innovation (1 winner): This award is to grant honors and rewards to works that adapt to the rhythm of short-form series through innovative programs and engaging storytelling techniques.
5. Most Commercially Valuable (1 project): This award recognizes series projects with a strong IP profile, clear market positioning, and exceptional potential for monetization.
This competition also features a dedicated track for [Tongyi Wanxiang Miaosi+].
We are now inviting submissions from creators worldwide, focusing on the cinematic-grade production capabilities of the Wan model.
Eligible Participants:
Global creators, including but not limited to individual creators, creative teams, or organizations.
Content Requirements:
Participants are required to use the Tongyi Wanxiang video generation model as their primary creative tool and produce their works in accordance with the overall requirement of the specified theme.
Honors and Awards:
This track features multiple honors and a 100,000 RMB prize pool, aimed at acknowledging and applauding outstanding creative works centered on the theme.
(Further details will soon be made available for public on the official Beijing International Film Festival platforms. Please stay tuned.)
Registration and Submission of Works
1. Exclusive Collection Platform: Tencent Video Lumio Community https://lumio.qq.com/bjiff. Click "Read Original Article" to jump to the submission page.
2. Steps for the recordation of works:
(1) Upload your video and provide the basic information for your work: Please ensure that you have selected the "BJIFF AIGC Film Section" event hashtag and the event agreement, and correctly selected your intended competition category (it is recommended to enable the content synchronization feature to increase your work's visibility).
(2) Share the creative process: Describe your creative thinking and provide an explanation for at least one storyboard breakdown.
Event Benefits
1. Exclusive Screening Opportunities: Selected and award-winning works will be featured in dedicated screenings during the AIGC Film Section of the 16th Beijing International Film Festival. Furthermore, creators will have the chance to receive featured recommendations on Tencent Video, showcasing their creative achievements to global cinephiles and industry heavyweights while enhancing the overall influence of their works.
2. Top-tier Industrial Matchmaking: Outstanding creators will be invited to participate in exclusive film festival exchange activities, engaging in deep, face-to-face communication with internationally renowned directors, veteran producers, and industry experts to gain access to premium industry resources and expand the scope of development for cooperation.
3. Professional Computing Power Support: Selected works will receive exclusive AI computing power support provided by Tongyi Wanxiang, helping creators optimize their workflows and enhance the technical quality and artistic expression of their pieces.
Contact Information
▲Scan the QR code to join the group chat
Inquiry Email: aigc_tencentvideo@tencent.com
The Q&A community and email are dedicated solely to addressing inquiries regarding the event and do not accept any competition film submissions. For more detailed competition rules and event updates, please follow the official WeChat account of the "Beijing International Film Festival."
Special Note
The full copyright of the entries belongs to the creators. Creators must ensure that their works are free from any copyright disputes. Should any relevant legal issues arise, the creators shall bear the legal responsibility themselves.
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to non-commercial use of the submitted works, including screening, publicity and promotion, and archiving during the film festival and its related supporting activities. For specific details regarding the protection of rights and interests, please refer to the instructions on the submission portal.
Overarching Vision
The Beijing International Film Festival's AIGC (AI-Generated Content) Section is rooted in China with a global outlook, dedicated to establishing the world's most influential platform for AI-driven cinematic innovation. We aspire to use film as a bridge and AI as a language to build a new ecosystem where technology and art coexist, creators and algorithms co-create, and industry and culture converge.
Over the next three years, the AIGC Film Section will become—
A global intellectual frontier for AIGC cinematic and visual creation;
An experimental arena for the deep integration of the film industry and intelligent science and technology;
The spiritual origin of the symbiotic relationship between a new generation of creators and models, rooted in the spirit of mutual learning and mutual benefit.
Let AI serve as an extension of cinematic language, allowing creation to return to the core of the human heart.
We believe that the future of cinema still belongs to people, though the tools have been completely renewed. AI does not replace imagination; rather, it expands it. It does not dissolve creation; instead, it empowers more people to create. This is a practice concerning the images of the future, the narratives of the future, and the creators of the future.
This unit is dedicated to building a human-centric AI cinematic ecosystem, ensuring that algorithms serve the expression of narrative and emotion, and allowing technology to become an extension of human imagination.
Starting from here, we hope to establish China as the cradle of the global AIGC film and television ecosystem, empowering every creator with a story and a dream to illuminate the future of cinema through the power of imagination, accompanied by AI.
This article was translated with AI assistance.
Editor: Fang Yiran
