International
Lee Chang-dong to be dean of Asian Film Academy
MUMBAI: Lee Chang-dong, who won an award at the last Cannes Fest for best screenplay for Poetry and Secret Sunshine, will serve as the dean of the 2013 Asian Film Academy (AFA).
Held jointly with the annual Busan International Film Festival, AFA is an international education program that offers aspiring filmmakers the chance to develop different aspects of their craft. This year‘s edition will be held for 18 days from 26 September to 13 October.
Lee will teach students about short film production and supervise master classes and lectures. Participants will also learn about the practice and philosophy of filmmaking during the intensive program. In addition to him, emerging Thai filmmaker Aditya Assarat, winner of the New Currents Award at the 2007 Busan Festival for Wonderful Town, will serve as a mentor.
“With Lee Chang-dong‘s master vision combined with Aditya Assarat‘s enthusiastic energy, the AFA 2013 faculty promises the best education possible for its new prospective fellows,” said the Academy in a statement.
Earlier those top Asian directors who have supervised the Academy are Korea‘s Im Kwon-taek, Japan‘s Kiyoshi Kurosawa, China‘s Jia Zhangke, Taiwan‘s Hou Hsiao Hsien and Iran‘s Moshen Makhmalbaf and Abbas Kiarostami.
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.
