SEOUL, March 05 (AJP) - The World AI Film Festival Seoul 2026 will open Friday with a live performance blending human artists and machine generation, signaling a shift in how the entertainment industry approaches artificial intelligence.
Kicking off on March 6 at Lotte Concert Hall in southern Seoul, the two-day event begins with a special performance titled "The Symphony of AI & Human." Organizers programmed the opening ceremony to move away from traditional film festival screenings, opting instead to showcase real-time artistic collaboration between generative systems and live performers.
The central competition operates under strict technological mandates that function as a creative hurdle. To qualify, creators of the 25 competing films were required to integrate at least three distinct artificial intelligence tools, including one mandatory image-generative system, into their production pipelines.
The submissions span six categories, ranging from traditional short films to micro-series designed for vertical mobile screens and commercials for fictional products. Competitors are vying for a share of a 27 million won prize pool and an official invitation to screen their work at the festival's grand finale in France this April.
Son Seung-hyun, chief executive officer at visual effects studio Westworld, leads an 11-member jury evaluating the entries. The Seoul event aims to demonstrate that artificial intelligence has evolved past post-production experimentation and is now shaping the core narrative and visual structures of modern media.
The festival's opening ceremony on March 6 is free to the public, while the subsequent Creative Intelligence Forum on March 7 at Lotte Cinema World Tower requires a paid ticket. The global circuit will continue with upcoming stops in Japan and China following the South Korea edition.
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