International
Vietnam to have its own international film festival
MUMBAI: Hanoi will be celebrating its 1000th anniversary with the opening of Vietnam‘s first international film festival in 2010.
This was announced by the cinema department of the country‘s ministry of culture, sports and tourism that will be the co-organiser of the festival. The festival will run from 27 to 31 October, next year.
Said Vietnam Media vice president of sales & acquisitions Ngo Thi Bich Hanh, “We want to start out small but stable so that we can make sure to do things right and not try to grow too quickly. For the first year we‘re going to invite 50 to 60 feature films.”
The festival will have a feature competition section for Asian directors with a focus on South-East Asia and competitions for shorts and documentaries.
An international jury will select the best feature, short and documentary, while the audience will choose a favourite actor or actress.
The fest will also have a ‘Vietnam Cinema Today‘ section that will have recent feature film from Vietnamese directors and a World Cinema Today section.
The ‘Country In Focus‘ section will showcase established directors from a chosen country each year while the Tribute section will showcase films from a certain notable Vietnamese filmmaker, actor or actress.
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.
