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Busan International Film Festival · AI films guide

Can you submit an AI film to Busan?No AI rule, no fee, and a narrow door for shorts.

The 31st BIFF opens on 6 October 2026. Its 2026 rules never mention AI, charge no entry fee and close short fiction to non-Asian films. Here is where an AI film can go, the separate Busan AI festival that is not BIFF, and a plan for the 2027 call.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • No AI wording in the 2026 rules
  • No entry fee
  • 2027 call not announced
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. 熙熙 does not organise the Busan International Film Festival and is not affiliated with it. Rules read on 1 October 2026. 2026 rules and regulations (PDF)

Available today in 熙熙: free screenwriting, and a storyboard generated from your screenplay with the 年度会员, ¥168 一年.

Also available now: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, on the same 年度会员, with 3,000 张额度 一年.

The rules on one card

What Busan asks of any film.

The Busan International Film Festival is accredited by FIAPF, and its rules are written for Asian cinema first. They say nothing about AI. The ordinary rule set applies to a film made with generative tools as to any other.
Festival
31st BIFF, 6 to 15 October 2026, Busan
2027 call
Not announced yet
2026 deadlines
Shorts 2 June, features 8 July (closed)
Entry fee
None
AI rule
None in the 2026 rules
Eligibility
Features, shorts, documentaries, animation
Length
Short under 60 min, feature from 60 min
Subtitles
English unless Korean or English dialogue

Source: the 2026 Official Submission and Selection Rules and Regulations (English PDF, version of 10 March 2026) on biff.kr, downloaded and read as text on 1 October 2026. The 2027 rules are not out, so the dates and eligibility windows here are the 2026 ones.

What the rules say about AI

A rule book without AI, five points to know.

BIFF has no AI clause, so there is no sentence to cite. What you can read is what the rules police, how the market treats AI, and which Busan event is the AI one.

  • What the rules say

    We read the ten pages of the 2026 rules on 1 October 2026. None of AI, artificial intelligence or generative appears in them. The rules ask for no disclosure and set no ceiling.

  • What the rules do police

    Copyright and portrait rights. The applicant must clear every protected element, and the festival may ask for documentary evidence and cancel a selection or an award before, during or after the festival if rights are not cleared. A generated face that looks like a real person is the AI risk to manage here.

  • Misleading information

    A selection may be cancelled at any time if a submission contains false or misleading information. If a form asks how a film was made, answer it truthfully. The rules never ask, which is not a reason to hide anything.

  • The market, not the competition

    The festival’s market, the Asian Contents and Film Market, runs InnoAsia 2026 from 10 to 13 October at BEXCO, a programme on cinema and emerging technology. Northeast Times of 26 August 2026 lists Google DeepMind, Kling AI and Netflix’s Eyeline Studios. It is an industry programme, not a section for films.

  • Not the same festival

    The Busan International AI Film Festival is a separate event, hosted by Busan Cinema Center on 3 to 5 December 2026. It is non-competitive, selects 15 films that each receive a 1,000 USD grant, requires an on-screen AI notice and charges no fee. Its call closed on 11 September 2026. Do not mix up its rules with BIFF’s.

Key dates

The 2026 dates, read as a template.

Every 2026 window has closed and <b>the 2027 call is not announced</b>. These dates illustrate the festival's operational timeline and reveal how far in advance a film must reach completion to qualify for consideration.

  1. 2 Jun 2026

    Shorts deadline, closed

    18:00 KST, with the screener uploaded. Short fiction had to be Korean or Asian.

  2. 8 Jul 2026

    Feature deadline, closed

    18:00 KST. A feature runs 60 minutes or more.

  3. First week of Sep 2026

    Completion and print

    Films had to be finished by then and the DCP or 35mm print delivered. Films completed before September 2025 were not eligible.

  4. 6 to 15 Oct 2026

    The 31st BIFF

    Ten days in Busan, with the market from 10 to 13 October.

  5. Not announced

    The 2027 call

    In 2026 the shorts deadline fell on 2 June and the feature deadline on 8 July. Watch biff.kr for the next dates.

Programs

Four programs, none you can choose.

You do not apply to a program: the festival decides the section and gives no explanation of a non-selection. Four of them matter to a filmmaker using generated images, and under each is the angle we would take when positioning such work.

  • 01

    Wide Angle

    Outstanding short films and documentaries, with two awards of 10 million KRW as funding for the next production.

    Short fiction is open to Korean and Asian films only, up to 30 minutes, as a world or international premiere. Check that your film qualifies as Asian before anything else, and ask the festival if it is unclear.

  • 02

    Midnight Passion

    Genre films, from horror and thriller to action and sci-fi.

    A plainly genre feature is easy to place. The festival chooses the section, but a clear genre promise gives its programmers somewhere to put the film.

  • 03

    Flash Forward

    Innovative and original first and second features by emerging non-Asian filmmakers, with an Audience Award of 10 million KRW.

    The natural fit for a non-Asian first or second feature. Innovation is in the brief, so a feature whose form could only exist this way has an argument.

  • 04

    On Screen

    The year’s most anticipated drama series, as a way to explore cinema’s expanding horizons.

    The only program that names series. The rules do not explain how to submit one, so write to the festival before you build a series for it.

From script to screen

Voidborn: the ruins, shot by shot.

Busan has no AI section, so a film has to stand as a film on its own merits. Voidborn, episode 0 is an anime action pilot by the 熙熙 team, and it won an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival. This is the sequence in the ruins: the screenplay page, then each shot as a storyboard frame and as the final image rendered for the episode.

Logline. Every seven years, the Rift opens and swallows the world's dreams. A swordsman sworn to a blind seer escorts her through its levels, toward a promise they made to a girl left behind in the waking world.

Screenplay · episode 0 · English subtitles

EXT. RUINS OF THE FIRST LEVEL - NIGHT

Broken towers under a violet sky stretching to the horizon. SIM, a swordsman in a black cloak, walks beside LADY MARIA, blindfolded, all in white robes.

SIM

Tell me, Maria... do you think Leia believes we are still alive? Does she imagine we survived, or has she already mourned us as lost? Does she imagine we survived, or has she already mourned us as lost?

MARIA

We made a promise... the two of us.

A line of white automatons rises from the ruins.

AUTOMATON

The Rift will wait for no one.

SIM

What are machines doing at this level?

One automaton steps forward. Its face is blank.

AUTOMATON

We must return to the surface.

Its eyes ignite red.

SIM

I am Sim, guardian of Lady Maria, sworn protector of her honor and life... and I will proceed with your execution without hesitation or mercy.

Steel meets steel. Lightning runs down the blade.

CUT TO:

  1. A swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded woman in white walk through ruins at night
    Storyboard frame of the wide shot, in grey
    01

    Wide · the pair

    Wide shot, a bald swordsman in a black cloak and a blindfolded red-haired woman in white walk through night ruins

  2. Medium two-shot of a bald swordsman and a blindfolded red-haired woman
    Storyboard frame of the two-shot, in grey
    02

    Two-shot · the promise

    Medium two-shot, the swordsman and the blindfolded seer side by side, violet night sky, broken towers

  3. Three white humanoid automatons stand in night ruins
    Storyboard frame of the automatons shot, in grey
    03

    Wide · the machines

    Wide low angle, three white humanoid automatons standing in the ruins, cold blue moonlight

  4. Close-up of a white automaton with a smooth blank face
    Storyboard frame of the blank face close-up, in grey
    04

    Close-up · the blank face

    Close-up on an automaton's smooth faceless head, black eye slots, cables at the neck, ruins behind

  5. A white automaton's eyes glow red
    Storyboard frame of the red eyes close-up, in grey
    05

    Close-up · the red eyes

    Same framing, the automaton's eyes ignite red, the swordsman's shoulder out of focus in the foreground

  6. A swordsman strikes with a katana wreathed in lightning and sparks
    Storyboard frame of the clash shot, in grey
    06

    Action · the clash

    Dynamic low angle, the swordsman strikes with his katana, lightning running along the blade, sparks, cape flying

Voidborn, episode 0 runs 13 minutes, comfortably under the 30 minute limit of BIFF's short competitions, making it eligible for submission within that category. Its record speaks to its quality: 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place 熙熙 at the Mondial Chroma Awards, and an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival, demonstrating both technical achievement and narrative resonance. For Busan, eligibility as an Asian film would be the first question to confirm, as regional criteria often govern festival acceptance. Playback starts in the ruins, immediately immersing viewers in the world's desolation.

The script

A 22 minute short in five movements.

BIFF's short competitions stop at 30 minutes, so a 22 minute film leaves room on both sides of the limit, offering flexibility in pacing and editorial refinement. That duration corresponds to about 22 screenplay pages and 220 to 330 shots of 4 to 6 seconds each, a shot density that supports dynamic visual storytelling and maintains audience engagement throughout.

  1. 0:00 to 2:00

    The cold open

    Open inside the action. Programmers see many films in a day.

  2. 2:00 to 6:00

    The law of this world

    Who we follow, what binds them, and the visual rule the film will keep.

  3. 6:00 to 15:00

    Escalation

    Each scene costs more. Give one of them to sound alone.

  4. 15:00 to 20:00

    The break

    The decision that cannot be undone, filmed in your best shots.

  5. 20:00 to 22:00

    The aftermath

    One image that answers the first. Then the credits.

Burned-in English subtitles are encouraged by the festival, ensuring accessibility for international audiences and jury members, and the festival produces the Korean ones to meet domestic viewing needs. It asks you to credit Busan International Film Festival as the Korean subtitle provider for 3 seconds on screen, a standard acknowledgment that fulfills festival protocol and recognizes their localization contribution.

Month by month

From the 31st edition to the next call.

The 2026 eligibility window covered films completed from September 2025 through to early September 2026. Following that established timeline, a film aiming for the 2027 edition would need to be completed no later than early September 2027, and must not have been released online prior to its festival screening.
  1. 01

    October 2026

    Watch what BIFF programmes

    The festival runs from 6 to 15 October and the market from 10 to 13 October. Note the sections, the lengths, the premieres and where genre and animation sit.

  2. 02

    November 2026

    Choose your route

    A feature of 60 minutes or more, aimed at World Cinema, or at Flash Forward for a non-Asian first or second feature. Short fiction only if the film is Korean or Asian. Or the separate AI festival next year.

  3. 03

    December 2026

    Logline and screenplay

    Start the screenplay in 熙熙, free. Decide now whether it is a short under 30 minutes or a feature, because the doors are different.

  4. 04

    January to April 2027

    Storyboard and generate

    References, storyboard, then footage scene by scene with Seedance. Keep every prompt and every version.

  5. 05

    May to August 2027

    Edit, sound, subtitles, DCP

    Cut, mix, burn in English subtitles and master a DCP. DVD and Blu-ray are not accepted. Clear every face, voice and music source.

  6. 06

    When the call opens

    Submit the screener

    Verify your email on biff.kr, complete the online form and upload the screener before 18:00 KST on the deadline. Entry is free.

Why films get rejected

Eight ways to be out before selection.

These are disqualification triggers detailed in sections 5 through 8 of the published rulebook. None of the provisions concerns AI or AI disclosure, yet any single breach is sufficient to render an entry ineligible.

  • A non-Asian short fiction film

    Non-Asian short fiction is not open to submission. A short from outside Asia has no door at BIFF in the 2026 rules.

  • A short documentary

    Short documentaries, Asian and non-Asian, are not open to submission in the 2026 rules. Documentary entries are features.

  • A film finished outside the dates

    The 2026 call took films completed no earlier than September 2025 and no later than the first week of September 2026. The next window will move.

  • A short that is too long

    The Korean and Asian short competitions accept 30 minutes at most, and only world or international premieres. A screening for a limited audience still counts under the regular premiere rule.

  • A premiere already spent

    Programmers give priority to world and international premieres. A film that is already online has lost that priority.

  • Sending a film again

    Films submitted to a previous edition should not be resubmitted. A new version after re-editing or reshooting is an exception that the Selection Committee decides.

  • A format the festival cannot play

    The festival screens a fully DCI-compliant DCP or a 35mm print. DVD and Blu-ray are not compatible. The exhibition copy is due in the first week of September.

  • Rights you cannot document

    If copyright or portrait rights are not cleared, the festival may cancel the selection or award before, during or after the event. Keep your licences and releases.

Why 熙熙

Busan imposes nothing. Your film has to be complete.

BIFF imposes no restrictions on production tools, sets no cap on AI involvement, and mandates no AI disclosure statement. The festival requires only a finished film that satisfies its format and premiere criteria. 熙熙 serves as the end-to-end production pipeline for such work: it unites screenplay development, storyboard composition, and footage generation within a single cohesive project environment.

  • A project sized to the door

    The shot count and the running time follow from the screenplay, so you know whether the project is a 22 minute short or a 70 minute feature before you generate anything.

  • Footage powered by Seedance

    The footage pipelines run on Seedance 2.0 and 2.5, directly from your script and storyboard, and they are available now on the 年度会员.

  • Faces and rights on file

    Characters, locations and references carry from shot to shot, and each shot traces back to its prompt. When a festival asks for evidence of rights, the project already holds it.

  • Start for free today

    The 免费档 carries no price and no expiry. The 年度会员 costs ¥168 一年, storyboard and Seedance video generation included.

Real productions

International festival-recognized films have been written and produced with 熙熙.

熙熙 is already in active use as a creative workspace for professional AI film productions spanning cinematic short films and animated series pilots, many of which have been selected for screening, nominated for awards, and honored by juries at international film festivals around the world.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place 熙熙

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • Award Winner

      Seoul International AI Film Festival

  • Video thumbnail for Les Fils du Vinnana

    Les Fils du Vinnana

    AI short film

    Festival recognition

    • Honorable Mention

      Top Quark Film Festival

    • People's Choice Nominee

      Illuminate Oneness of Humanity

    • Nominee

      ALTFF Supershort

  • Video thumbnail for Lost Garden

    Lost Garden

    AI animated series pilot

    Festival recognition

    • Finalist

      AI London Festival

See what creators are building

The pipeline

Write. Board. Produce.

  1. 熙熙 screenplay editor: acts, sequences and beats above the formatted script of The Yellow Umbrella

    01The screenplay, enriched

    An industry-standard screenplay editor, and more: a visual outline and beat editor, your writing inspirations (notes, photos, audio) kept next to the page, and an AI researcher to support your writing, not replace it.

  2. 熙熙 storyboard: shot S3 of The Yellow Umbrella with characters, shot settings and the script beside it

    02The storyboard, made easy

    Shot breakdown generated from your screenplay, manual control over every shot (frame, angle, movement, duration), and generative AI previsualization in one click.

  3. 熙熙 production canvas: shots S3 and S4 as connected nodes carrying their storyboard panels and prompts

    03AI production, with finesse

    Footage generation pipelines connected to your screenplay and storyboard. Optimized out of the box, fully editable workflow.

More festival guides

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for festival films

FAQ

Busan and AI films, your questions

Can you submit an AI film to the Busan International Film Festival? The 2026 rules contain no
language that prohibits it, and they impose no requirement to disclose AI use. The regulations remain silent on AI tooling, meaning your film is evaluated solely as a film. What determines acceptance is eligibility: short fiction entries are open to Korean and Asian productions, while any feature must run 60 minutes or longer. Does BIFF have an AI c
ategory? No. The festival maintains no ded
icated AI section or competition strand. Its market component does host an industry programme on cinema and emerging technology called InnoAsia, which ran from 10 to 13 October 2026 according to Northeast Times, but that is not a competitive category. How much does it cost to submit
to BIFF? There is no charge. The 2026 rules state expli
citly that no entry fee is levied. You verify your email address on the official festival site, complete the online submission form, and upload your screener file. When is the next BIFF deadline? Bus
an has not yet published a call for entries
for the 2027 edition. In the 2026 cycle, the short film deadline fell on 2 June and the feature deadline on 8 July, both at 18:00 KST, for the festival that took place 6 to 15 October. Can a short film enter? Yes, subject to cond
itions. A short is defined as an
y work under 60 minutes. Non-Asian short fiction and short documentary entries were not accepted in 2026, and the Wide Angle short competition strands accepted films of 30 minutes maximum running time, with world or international premiere status required. Is the Busan International AI Film Festival the same as BIFF? N
o. It is an entirely separate event, hosted by Busan Cinema Center and scheduled for
3 to 5 December 2026. It is non-competitive in structure and open exclusively to films that employ AI in their production. Its submission call closed on 11 September 2026, it operates under its own distinct rulebook, and it requires an on-screen AI disclosure notice. Do I need subtitles? If the dialogue track is
in a language other than Kor
ean or English, the screener must carry English subtitles. A film selected for screening must be presented in its original language with English subtitles; burned-in subtitles are preferred where feasible, and the festival itself produces the Korean subtitle track. Who decides which films are selected? A Selection C
ommittee makes the final determination after interna
l screenings. For the Korean short competition and Asian short competition strands, preliminary juries conduct an initial shortlisting round before the committee's review. The festival assigns the section placement and does not issue explanations for films that are not selected.

No call is open yet. A screenplay can start today.

Write it free today and decide whether it is a short or a feature. Storyboard it, then make it with Seedance.
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