A poster for the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival is shown in the image provided by the organizer, May 14. Yonhap The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) established an award category to judge films created using artificial intelligence technology, its organizer said Tuesday. The AI Film International Competition category will be added to the 28th edition of the festival, scheduled for July, according to BIFAN. This marks the first instance of the country's film festivals recognizing films created using AI technology. The organizer said it plans to assess films not solely based on the AI technology employed but also on their artistic merit and conveyed messages. BIFAN will also invite experts in the field to discuss related technology and its impact on the film industry as a whole. "In this year's edition, we aim to provide information and experiences for creators who may not have access to large production budgets, enabling them to craft films with minimal budgets using AI technology," the festival's director Shin Chul said. He emphasized that this initiative builds on years of experience supporting exhibitions and productions in new media, such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Established in 1997, BIFAN has been held annually in Bucheon, located approximately 20 kilometers west of Seoul. Over the years, it has evolved into South Korea's largest genre film festival. This year's festival is scheduled to run from July 4 to 14. (Yonhap)
