Shanghai has always thrived at the crossroads of East and West, and this year it became the launchpad for a new kind of cultural movement: the inaugural Shanghai AI Short Film Festival (SAISFF). Positioned at the intersection of cinema and emerging technology, SAISFF brought together visionary filmmakers, creative technologists, and industry leaders to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of storytelling.
What made the viewing experience unique for SAISFF is the fact that credibility came from the top. The jury featured a mix of global film veterans and technologists, including Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Leon Loukeris (Hugo, Game of Thrones), as well as respected names from China’s indie film scene and AI pioneers. Besides the professionals, the local film enthusiast community also had delegated members in the judging panel, providing diverse perspectives and strengthening the grassroots foundation of the festival. The result: a judging panel that treated AI shorts not as curiosities, but as cinema worthy of world-class standards.
This diverse and open-minded approach stems from its roots. The festival’s founders reflect its cross-cultural DNA: Patrick Kelly, a veteran producer who’s worked in Shanghai film for decades; Mike Rosenthal, actor and American business leader with deep experience in law and media; Ai Wan, a Shanghai-born, LA-raised actress, producer, and award-winning filmmaker whose career includes a Sundance nomination and 30+ major festival awards; and Leon Krykhtin, a Ukrainian-British architect and AI educator who has been building Shanghai’s AI creative community. Together, they created a platform where tradition meets innovation and bold experimentation is the rule, not the exception.
The DIY Punk Vibe of AI Filmmaking
What stood out for SAISFF wasn’t just the films, it was the energy in the room. The vibe was raw, electric, and full of firsts. This wasn’t just a glossy industry showcase. It felt more like the DIY punk scene or the avant-garde circles that once redefined what art could be.
The teams that submitted films ranged from traditional filmmakers testing the AI waters, tech gurus going creative, and indie creators who had never dared to pick up a camera before, who suddenly had the tools and the courage to step into the spotlight. Today, we are used to coming across AI content on a six-inch screen; the visual experience at the award ceremony couldn’t have been more different. A selected list of films shown on China’s first volume LED screen—a massive installation usually reserved for big-budget productions. The shock of the audience and pride of the filmmakers were palpable.
In that moment, AI filmmaking wasn’t about replacing directors or churning out disposable clips. It was about democratizing cinema, handing the means of production to voices who had been left out. This is not “social media trash.” It’s the start of something new, avant-garde, visually ambitious, culturally daring, and emotionally resonant.
To understand better how creative these AI films were, here’s RADII’s list of five that captured that spirit and defined the festival’s debut.
Him (《他》) – Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Sound Design, Best Picture in Horizontal Format
A girl named Quan sets out from Haixian to Min City in search of “him.” What begins as a straightforward journey fractures into something more uncanny, where destination and reality warp in unexpected ways.
Directed by Jim HuiHui, an LA-based AIGC artist, Him is the festival’s flagship film. Jim integrated AI at nearly every stage: MidJourney 6.1 for storyboarding, Dreamina Video 3.0 to animate stills, and Dreamina Action to workshop narrative beats through human-AI dialogue. The final cut blends technical wizardry with emotional weight, proving that AI can amplify resonance instead of flattening it. It’s a benchmark for the field—a film that balances innovation with heart.
You Just Forgot (《你只是忘了》) – Best Directing
You Just Forgot lingers in the haze of memory. A woman recalls an elusive childhood figure who never quite revealed herself, a presence frozen in time. Decades later, the memory still hovers, half dream, half ghost.
Chilean filmmaker G.G. Puentes directed the piece with a minimalist, design-driven eye. The film relies on restraint rather than spectacle, showing how AI can create atmosphere as much as it can generate visuals. By winning Best Directing, You Just Forgot carved out space for tenderness and nostalgia in a lineup otherwise heavy with bold experimentation.
A Bird Named Kaili (《寻找鸟哥》) – Best Screenplay
What if the subject of a painting simply walked away? In A Bird Named Kaili, the mysterious “Bird Brother” disappears from his canvas just before auction, sparking a surreal investigation into the very essence of art.
Directed by Long Qin, a musician and image creator from Guizhou, the short merges magical realism with existential philosophy. With its poetic rhythm and layered narrative, it questions whether art is defined by form or essence, a debate that resonates deeply with the rise of AI-generated creativity. Its Best Screenplay win underscores that AI cinema isn’t only about images; it’s also about fresh ways of telling stories.
Our Tree (《我们的树》) – Best Visuals
When a sycamore tree becomes a viral “landmark,” it draws crowds, hype, and exploitation—until nothing remains. Our Tree is an allegory for the internet age, where fleeting moments of virality eclipse timeless values.
Director Joey, founder of Mona Lisa AI Visual Studio, pushed AI imagery to striking extremes, creating visuals that feel both hyper-digital and deeply symbolic. The short critiques online hysteria while exploring the paradox of eternity versus ephemerality in digital culture. Our Tree was a festival highlight for its ability to turn contemporary anxieties into cinematic myth.
The Marionette’s Curse (《傀儡咒》) – Best Picture in Vertical Format
Set in Southern Fujian, The Marionette’s Curse follows temple keeper Chen Yan and troupe leader Lin Shitian as they uncover ancient puppet mechanisms, faceless figures, and conspiracies buried in folklore.
Directed by XEIIZO, a former documentary filmmaker, the short combined thriller pacing with vertical-format storytelling tailored for platforms like Douyin and TikTok. AI enhanced its eerie atmosphere, while the choice of format acknowledged how younger audiences actually consume cinema today. The win for Best Vertical Film proved that AI isn’t just about new aesthetics, it’s about reimagining formats themselves.
Looking Ahead
Taken together, these five shorts show the spectrum of AI filmmaking: from philosophical meditations and allegories of digital culture to folklore thrillers and emotionally charged journeys.
AI filmmaking is opening doors for indie creators who never imagined seeing their ideas on the big screen. And when those ideas get the spotlight they deserve, the result isn’t just cinema—it’s a movement.
Cover image of Our Tree clip via Shanghai AI Short Film Festival.
