Summary
Forum BIFF 2026 opened at the Busan International Film Festival with a four-day program examining cinema’s changing industrial, creative and policy environment. One section, “Cinema After AI: Who Makes Film?”, features Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who is presenting the AI short “Jia Zhangke’s Dance,” alongside animation director Li Wei and filmmaker Erlan Nurmukhambetov. Other sessions address Asian animation’s growth, declining mid-budget production, international co-production, creator rights and sustainable filmmaking. Speakers on animation include director Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, scholar Daisy Yan Du and Studio Animal chief Cho Kyung-hoon, with discussion focused on converting current momentum into sustainable global growth.
Hana’s perspective
I like that the forum places AI beside financing, rights, policy and sustainability rather than treating it as a separate spectacle. Jia’s film can make the discussion tangible, but the harder questions concern who controls the production process and who benefits when tools change jobs. For animation in particular, Asia’s global momentum will not be sustained by faster generation alone. Studios need durable IP strategy, skilled artists, fair rights and routes to international audiences. A useful outcome would be practical disclosure and labor standards, not another abstract argument over whether machines are creative.
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