International
Italian screenwriter Cecchi D’Amico expires
MUMBAI: Suso Cecchi D‘Amico, who emerged from the male-dominated post-war Italian cinema to become a celebrated artiste having contributed in films like Bicycle Thieves and The Leopard expired onSaturday at age 96. She died in her hometown, Rome while no cause of her death was given. She is survived by her three children.
Cecchi D‘Amico worked with some of the most renowned Italian directors, including Franco Zeffirelli, Michelangelo Antonioni and Mario Monicelli, whose film Casanova 70 got her an Oscar nomination.
She was equally successful at writing scripts for neo-realistic movies, art-house films and comedies like Big Deal on Madonna Street. Her work helped make the Italian post-war movie scene a vibrant and innovative one.
Among other titles, she contributed to was The Leopard, the sumptuous depiction of the decline of a Sicilian aristocratic family based on the book by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon.
Said Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano that D‘Amico was a “great protagonist of one of the best seasons of Italian cinema.”
Claudia Cardinale, who starred in The Leopard praised her deep culture and generosity. Cecchi D‘Amico won several Italian awards and in 1994 the Venice Film Festival gave her a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.
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.
