International
Guwahati film festival begins
MUMBAI: Guwahati is hosting the Guwahati festival that went underway from yesterday after it was inaugurated by Assam governor J B Patnaik.
Organized by Cine Arts Society, Assam (CineASA) for the second consecutive year, the festival will showcase nearly 40 films from the international arena for filmgoers of the region.
The Second CineASA Guwahati International Film Festival 2010 will be inaugurated on January 18 by the Assam Governor JB Patnaik.
The Sri Lankan film Akasha Kusum was the inaugural film. The director of the film, Prasanna Vithange graced the inaugural session.
Other important films to be screened in different venues including Rabindra Bhawan, Gauhati University, IIT Guwahati, Janokee Panjabari, include film works by Pedro Almodover, Christian Mungio, Jean Luc Godard, Francois Troufaut, Mahsin Makhmalbaf, Kiarostemi, Kim Ki Duk etc.
The festival will also have a retrospective section comprising films by Pedro Almodovar, a tribute section for film works by Kim Ki Duk and a focus section for the movies by Mahsin Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mazid Mazidi, Abbas Kiarostemi and Bahman Ghobadi, informed the organizer.
A package of Asian films which had won awards in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Pusan, London festival will also be screened.
Similarly, the Indian panorama section will include Golabi Talkies by Girish Kasarvalli, Frozen by Shivajee Chandrabhushan, Houseful by Bapaditya Banerjee and Mohandas by Mazhar Kamran.
Aai Kot Nai by Manju Bora and Dhunia Tirutabor by Pradyut Kumar Deka will be the Assamese entry to the festival. The festival will end with The Other Bank by George Ovashvili.
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.
