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.
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  • No AI wording in the 2026 rules
  • No entry fee
  • 2027 call not announced
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver 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 ScreenWeaver: free screenwriting, and a storyboard generated from your screenplay with Storyboard Beta, $9.99 a month.

Rolling out: video generation of each shot, powered by Seedance, with the Filmmaker plan.

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 show how the festival works, and how early a film must be finished.

  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.

  • 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. Voidborn, episode 0 is an anime action pilot by the ScreenWeaver 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.

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.

Screenplay · episode 0 · English subtitles

EXT. RUINS OF THE FIRST LEVEL - NIGHT

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

SIM

Tell me, Maria... do you think Leia believes we are still alive?

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... and I will proceed with your execution.

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, under the 30 minute limit of BIFF’s short competitions. Its record: 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place Dreamina at the Mondial Chroma Awards, and an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival. For Busan, eligibility as an Asian film would be the first question. Playback starts in the ruins.

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. That is about 22 screenplay pages and 220 to 330 shots of 4 to 6 seconds.

  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, and the festival produces the Korean ones. It asks you to credit Busan International Film Festival as the Korean subtitle provider for 3 seconds on screen.

Month by month

From the 31st edition to the next call.

The 2026 rules took films completed between September 2025 and the first week of September 2026. If the pattern holds, a film for 2027 must be finished by early September 2027, with no online release before it plays.
  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 ScreenWeaver, 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 as video generation reaches your plan. 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.

They come from sections 5 to 8 of the rules. None is about AI, and each can end an entry.

  • 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 ScreenWeaver

Busan imposes nothing. Your film has to be complete.

BIFF sets no tool, no AI share and no disclosure rule. It asks for a finished film that fits a door. ScreenWeaver is the production pipeline for such a film: screenplay, storyboard and footage in one connected project.

  • 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, as video generation rolls out with the Filmmaker plan.

  • 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 Screenwriter plan carries no price and no expiry. The storyboard beta costs $9.99 a month, and Seedance video generation arrives with the Filmmaker plan.

Real productions

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

ScreenWeaver is already being used as a creative workspace for real AI film productions, from cinematic shorts to animated series pilots selected, nominated, and awarded by international festivals.

  • Video thumbnail for VOIDBORN

    VOIDBORN

    AI animated / cinematic short

    Festival recognition

    • 1st Place Silver

      Mondial Chroma Awards

    • 2nd Place Dreamina

      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. ScreenWeaver 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. ScreenWeaver 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. ScreenWeaver 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?
Nothing in the 2026 rules forbids it, and nothing requires a disclosure. The rules are silent on AI, so your film is judged as a film. What matters is eligibility: short fiction is open to Korean and Asian films, and a feature must be 60 minutes or more.
Does BIFF have an AI category?
No. The festival has no AI section. Its market runs an industry programme on cinema and emerging technology, InnoAsia, from 10 to 13 October 2026, according to Northeast Times. That is not a competition.
How much does it cost to submit to BIFF?
Nothing. The 2026 rules say there is no entry fee. You verify your email on the official site, fill in the online form and upload the screener.
When is the next BIFF deadline?
Busan has published no call for 2027. In 2026 the shorts deadline was 2 June and the feature deadline 8 July, both at 18:00 KST, for the festival of 6 to 15 October.
Can a short film enter?
Yes, with conditions. A short is under 60 minutes. Non-Asian short fiction and short documentaries were not open in 2026, and the Wide Angle short competitions took films of 30 minutes at most as world or international premieres.
Is the Busan International AI Film Festival the same as BIFF?
No. It is a separate event hosted by Busan Cinema Center, on 3 to 5 December 2026, non-competitive and open only to films that use AI. Its call closed on 11 September 2026, and it has its own rules and an on-screen AI notice.
Do I need subtitles?
If the dialogue is not in Korean or English, the screener needs English subtitles. A selected film must screen in its original language with English subtitles, burned in if possible, and the festival makes the Korean subtitles.
Who decides which films are selected?
A Selection Committee chooses after screenings. For the Korean and Asian short competitions, preliminary juries shortlist first. The festival chooses the section and does not explain a non-selection.

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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