International
Cannes 2022: India to be official ‘country of honour’ at Cannes Marche’ Du Film
Mumbai: India will be the official country of honour at the upcoming Marche’ Du Film organised alongside the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in France, announced union minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Wednesday.
“It is the first time the Marché du Film has an official country of honour, and this special focus will continue annually with different nations in the spotlight at future editions,” Thakur said.
Notably, France and India are also marking 75 years of their diplomatic ties. Prime minister Narendra Modi recently visited Paris to meet with president Emmanuel Macron.
As a country of honour, India’s cinema, culture and heritage will come under the spotlight during the opening night of Marche Du Films being organised by the Majestic Beach. There will be special performances by Indian choir bands along with folk music and fireworks. The cuisine served will be Indian as well as French.
The I&B minister also announced five new startups would be given an opportunity to pitch to the audio-visual industry at Cannes Next, a business development platform. Ten professionals will participate in the animation day networking.
The Cannes Film Festival will also feature the premiere of the movie “Rocketry” produced by R Madhavan. The film will be showcased at the Palais des Festivals on 19 May.
India has pitched five films under the ‘Goes to Cannes Section’ including “Baghjan” by Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia (Assamese, Moran), “Bailadila” by Shailendra Sahu (Hindi, Chhatisgarhi), “Ek Jagah Apni” by Ektara Collective (Hindi), “Follower” by Harshad Nalawade (Marathi, Kannada, Hindi), “Shivamma” by Jai Shankar (Kannada).
A cinema hall called the ‘Olympia Screen’ has been dedicated to India on 22 May for the screening of unreleased movies under which five films have been selected.
The festival will also screen Satyajit Ray classic “Pratidwandi’ in celebration of the centenary of the Bengali director at the Cannes Classic section Cinéma de la plage.
A dedicated India forum i.e., a one-hour conference is being organised at the main stage, comprising leaders in the entertainment sector to discuss ‘India as the content hub of the world’. The forum will be streamed online.
The minister also noted that the India Pavilion at the festival will have the sole focus on branding India as the ‘content hub of the world.’ The pavilion will be inaugurated on 18 May and will showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversities of the country and will serve as a networking platform for delegates from across the global community, aiming to establish international partnerships in film shooting, distribution, production, script development, technology, promoting film sales and syndication.
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.
