International
Film release marks 90th anniversary of Chinese Communist party
MUMBAI:Film stars of China recently launched a blockbuster film The Beginning of the Great Revival that celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. The film is part of a series of events in China marking the anniversary.
The film traces developments between the 1911 revolution that overthrew imperial rule and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party on 13 July, 1921. It features many of the Chinese film industry‘s biggest names such as Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat, who attended Wednesday‘s event.
Director Han Sanping has said that the film was better than 2009‘s The Founding of a Republic which related the story of the Communist Party winning power in 1949. Its success was helped by politically correct theatre operators who flooded their properties with screenings. The Beginning of the Great Revival is likely to receive similar treatment.
China Film Group is hoping for a repeat of the success it had with The Founding of a Republic which made 415 million yuan ($61 million) at the box-office, a large amount for China.
Communist China‘s founding father, Mao Zedong, is played by Chinese actor Liu Ye, best known to Western audiences for his roles in the Zhang Yimou imperial drama Curse of the Golden Flower and the drama Dark Matter, which costarred Meryl Streep.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
