AI Films

Behind the Throne: The Irwolobongdo and the Eternal Rule of the Joseon King

Director: Josephine Kim

The Irwolobongdo—currently housed in museums across South Korea, including the National Museum of Korea—is a masterpiece of pre-modern Korean art. Yet, like many pre-modern works, its cultural significance is not always immediately accessible to contemporary audiences. 

This is where the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) technology can play a significant role. AI offers new ways for audiences to engage with historical works like the Irwolobongdo in immersive and interactive experiences that bring the artwork’s visual elements to life.

Li Yaoguo’s One Day

Director: Yiyi Gu

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, economic, personal, and social reforms are the central objectives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The 1950s were an essential period of these reforms, witnessing the proliferation of propaganda literatures and art forms. One significant art form that effectively communicated CCP’s ideologies to the mass audience in China was propaganda posters (xuanchuan hua). Propaganda posters were often composed of compelling slogans and straight-froward imageries, reflecting the leading discourses in Chinese society during that period. 

Inspired by the cultural and ideological significance embodied in the propaganda posters, I created an AI-generated film, Li Yaoguo’s One Day, using AI tools, Runway and Hailuo AI, to reinterpret the propaganda posters and explore the CCP’s reform ideology during this era.

The Story of Cat City

Director: Tianyi Jiang (Angelina)

The Story of Cat City is an AI-made film entirely based on text prompts, all of which are derived from the science fiction novel The Story of Cat City (1932) by the famous twentieth century Chinese author Lao She (1899-1966). 

If AI can visualize and clearly reflect on this work, can The Story of Cat City, which integrates controversial topics such as Mars exploration and colonization, aliens, drugs and psychotropic drugs, religious worship, etc. in today's society, gain more international recognition and attention as a new Chinese science fiction work? 

A distant, unidentifiable form: The Collective Identity of Human and Non-Human Processes

Director: Maria Andrea Chica Jimenez

A distant, unidentifiable form is an exploration of human embodiment and mortality, challenging the rigid categories used to justify the uniqueness of human experience. It grants other existences validity through abstraction, pointing out moments where the “bodies” of other non-human agents can overlap and merge with our own. In highlighting both the dark and vibrant through-lines connecting human relationships with other non-human bodies,  A distant, unidentifiable form aims to expand the idea of identity beyond the individual and beyond the human, suggesting that a collective identity can exist amongst both non-human and human forms. 

All non-human systems, including artificial intelligence, can therefore be regarded as simultaneous non-human and human systems, and conversely, all human systems can be regarded as both non-human and human. It is this process of removing labeling that becomes the collective identity.

Reimagining Feminism through AI: A Cinematic Revival of Dream of the Red Chamber

Director: Jill Lyu

This film reinterprets Chinese classic novel Dream of Red Chamber by the Qing dynasty novelist Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) through the female perspectives. I co-created the film with Hailuo AI, ChatGPT and Redraft.

The Unofficial Records of the Western Chamber 

Director: Montana Gray

In a Buddhist monastery where nothing interesting was supposed to happen, a scandalous series of events unfolds in the western chamber. Witness the moment that sparked a literary uproar: when Cui Yingying first catches Zhang Sheng's eye in the monastery garden. Watch as Hong Niang, the elite-tier wingwoman of ancient China, starts orchestrating what she'll later claim was just 'routine monastery business.' Can supposedly studious scholar Zhang Sheng convince Lady Cui that he's worthy of her daughter's hand despite his total lack of imperial certification?

Images source from: Wang, S. (1720). 懷永堂繪像第六才子書西廂記 [Huai yong tang hui xiang di liu cai zi shu Xi xiang ji]. [China: s.n.].

Ok-ran, Found Her Sight

Director: Hongsun Yoon

The film I created is based on “Ok-ran, Found Her Sight”, a story from a North Korean kindergarten magazine designed to instill socialist moral values in preschool children. Published as part of North Korea’s stated-led educational efforts, Kkotbongori serves a dual purpose: promoting intellectual development and embedding the ideological pillars of loyalty to the leader, collectivism, and anti-imperialism. 

The story of Ok-ran, like many others in the magazine, uses a sentimental narrative to illustrate moral values. In Ok-ran’s case, her regaining of sight serves as both a literal and symbolic representation of North Korea’s ideals, achieved through communal care and loyalty of leadership.

Unveiling African American Heritage Through Poetic Storytelling

Director: Paige Plater

This film was created with the purpose of capturing an important aspect of my identity. I wanted to highlight my African American heritage by using AI to tell the story of our history.

I decided to include poems by black poets throughout my project to keep the same tone throughout the film. I used historical figures’ poems as well as the poems of contemporary poets. Along with poetry, I also chose to include historical photos to ensure the storytelling felt real.