International
27 Asian films gain eligibility for Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund
NEW DELHI: 27 film projects, including 14 documentaries, are recipients in the latest round of the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Cinema Fund.
The awards are divided into three categories, supporting script development, post-production and documentaries. There were a total of 438 submissions, up 10 per cent on last year, including 60 projects from India, 50 from China and 26 from Philippines.
In the Script Development Fund there are three South Korean projects and four Asian projects. The South Korean selection was particularly competitive this year with an 87 per cent increase in submissions from local film-makers.
The three local directors – GOH Tae-jeong, KIM Geon and SHIM Hyeon-seok – have a track record as short film directors and will develop their first feature films with the fund.
The festival has a broad definition of Asia, which includes Syria, awarding a script development fund to Soudade Kaadan‘s The Day I Lost My Shadow. The three other Asian projects originate from India, Philippines and Indonesia.
Five projects have been selected for the Post-Production Fund, three from South Korea and two from Asia.
They include, from Mongolia, Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig‘s Yellow Coltand from Thailand, Lee Chatametikool‘s Concrete Clouds (pictured). The latter has now completed shooting and is expected to be completed by October.
The South Korean projects – from Seo Ho-bin, Lee Yu-bin and Kim Jae-han, a former assistant director of Hong Sang-soo – are described as “artistically ambitious and clearly focused”.
There are 14 recipients within the Asian Network of Documentary Fund, of which five are South Korean projects, including new films by established film-makers IM Heung-sun and Kim Tae-il.
Established Asian documentary film-makers with support for their new documentary projects include China‘s DU Haibin, Singapore‘s Tan Pin Pin and Japan‘s Nakamura Takayuki.
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.
