Korea AI Cinema Festival 2026 · Guide

How to win the Korea AI Cinema Festival.Eight categories. A Seoul cinema screen. A Screenwriter prize.

KACF lists a category for the screenplay itself among its eight. Here is how films are judged and a plan to the 31 October 2026 deadline. Then bring the film from page to screen in ScreenWeaver.
Start writing for freeSee the scene
  • Entries close 31 October 2026
  • Screened in a Seoul cinema
  • Includes a Screenwriter category
Voidborn · Episode 0

Independent guide. ScreenWeaver does not organise the Korea AI Cinema Festival and is not affiliated with its organisers. Listing details read on 1 October 2026 through search summaries and festival indexes, since the FilmFreeway page itself blocks automated reading. Festival listing on FilmFreeway

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 the listing tells us.

KACF has no website of its own that we could find: everything runs through its FilmFreeway listing. The facts below come from summaries of that listing, and several points are still unknown.
Deadline
31 October 2026, regular
The festival
From 17 December 2026, Seoul
Fee
$20 per entry, $15 for Gold Members
Categories
Eight, from AI Film to Screenwriter
AI requirement
Generative AI central, any tool allowed
Subtitles
English for non-English works
Awards
Gold, Silver, Bronze and Jury Award per category
Running time
Not stated in the summaries: check per category

Source: the festival’s FilmFreeway listing as quoted in search results, with the aifilmcontests.com page checked on 14 September 2026 and the kajimelo.com index. FilmFreeway returns an access error to automated readers, so the fee, the dates and the runtime must be confirmed there before you pay.

Key dates

Thirty days to the deadline.

The listing gives few dates. Two are known from several sources, and the notification date was not found.

  1. 31 Oct 2026

    Regular deadline

    Reported by aifilmcontests.com, kajimelo.com and the FilmFreeway listing as relayed by search. Whether a late window follows is not stated in the summaries.

  2. Not found

    Notifications

    The summaries do not give a date. Watch the FilmFreeway listing and your inbox in November.

  3. From 17 Dec 2026

    The festival in Seoul

    Officially selected films screen in a Seoul cinema. Aggregators give 17 December, and a search summary gives 17 to 19 December.

How films are judged

Four criteria, and no weights.

The listing names four things the jury looks at and gives no weights. They describe a filmmaker’s grid, not a technician’s: story, direction, expression, and what AI makes possible for cinema.

  • Storytelling

    A character with a want and a change. The last edition screened 110 films in two days, so the story you can retell in one sentence is the one that is remembered.

  • Directing

    Choices that can be named: where the camera stands, how long a shot holds, what is left out. A film directed on purpose beats a string of impressive generations.

  • Cinematic expression

    Image, sound and rhythm working together on a big screen. KACF screens films in a cinema, so test your film on a large screen and a real sound system before you submit.

  • AI-era filmmaking possibilities

    The festival wants to see what AI opens up for cinema, not a copy of what cameras already do. Show a world, a transformation or a scale that a small crew could not film.

The criteria are those given in the listing text relayed by search and aggregators. The organisers can change them, and no weights are published.

Who decides

A president and a mixed panel.

The listing names its jury president and describes the rest of the panel. Film people and AI creators sit together, so a film has to satisfy both.

  • Jung-Wook Kim, jury president

    A South Korean filmmaker and media educator with more than two decades in filmmaking and moving-image education. A filmmaker who also teaches reads for clarity of storytelling, so make yours obvious.

  • The panel

    Filmmakers, directors, screenwriters, composers, producers, media educators and AI creators with professional experience across film, television, music and documentary. Composers and screenwriters sit on the panel, so music and script are judged by specialists.

The eight categories

Pick one of eight doors.

KACF has no theme. It has eight categories: AI Film, AI Music Video, AI Movie Director, Best Animation Short, Best AI Commercial Film, Best Trailer Film, Film Poster and Screenwriter. Six are covered here. The listings give names and no definitions, so ask the organisers where a category is unclear.

  • 01

    AI Film

    The main film category, for narrative and cinematic work made with generative AI.

    The most crowded door, and the one where story decides. One character, one change, and a held look from start to finish.

  • 02

    Best Animation Short

    Animated shorts, in any style the generative tools allow.

    A stylised world is more forgiving than photorealism. Pick one visual language and keep it, from the title card to the last frame.

  • 03

    AI Music Video

    Music videos made with generative AI.

    Rhythm is the script. Cut on the beat, plan each shot to a bar, and keep one character or one place so the images read as a clip, not a gallery.

  • 04

    Commercial and Trailer

    Two categories: Best AI Commercial Film and Best Trailer Film.

    Both are short and sell something: a product or a story. A trailer made from a real screenplay and storyboard promises a film that exists, and the jury can tell.

  • 05

    AI Movie Director

    The listings name this category and do not define it.

    It most likely rewards directorial vision over a single film. Ask the organisers what it takes before you enter, since a wrong guess costs the fee.

  • 06

    Screenwriter and Film Poster

    A Screenwriter category for the written work, and a Film Poster category for the key image.

    The category where ScreenWeaver starts. A screenplay needs no footage, so it can be finished within the month. The listings do not describe its format, so confirm it before you write.

The last edition

What 110 films in two days tell you.

The second edition screened 110 AI films over two days in the large theatre of the Seoul Film Center in Chungmuro, one of the city’s historic cinema districts, according to the listing text. Officially selected films play in the cinema.

  1. 01

    A cinema is not a phone. Check colour, dark scenes, text legibility and the mix on a large screen, since the screening is theatrical.

  2. 02

    Many films share a short slot. A film that gets to its point fast is easier on a programme of this size. Hold the opening to a clear image.

  3. 03

    A variety of formats play together. Music videos, trailers and shorts sit in one programme. The festival presents moving-image art expanded through generative AI, not only narrative film.

From script to screen

Voidborn: six shots from episode 0.

KACF screens films in a Seoul cinema and judges direction and cinematic expression. This is a scene from Voidborn, episode 0, an anime pilot made by the ScreenWeaver team: 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 and was built for a big screen: night ruins, violet light, steel against steel. The ScreenWeaver team’s film took 1st Place Silver and 2nd Place Dreamina at the Mondial Chroma Awards and an award at the Seoul International AI Film Festival, a separate Seoul event from KACF. Press play and the player opens on the ruins sequence.

The script

Five minutes, four movements.

KACF’s runtime limits were not in the summaries, so confirm them for your category. Five minutes suits a programme of many films: about 5 screenplay pages and 40 to 60 shots of 4 to 6 seconds.

  1. 0:00 to 0:30

    The image

    One strong frame and one question. The jury has seen a lot of AI openings.

  2. 0:30 to 2:00

    The want

    Who we follow, what they want, and the visual rule the film will keep.

  3. 2:00 to 4:00

    The clash

    The obstacle and the action. Let sound carry one beat without dialogue.

  4. 4:00 to 5:00

    The change

    What is different, shown rather than told. Finish on an image, then the credits.

For the Music Video, Commercial and Trailer categories, compress the same four movements into 30 to 120 seconds, one to three shots each. A trailer needs a hook, a promise, a rise and a title card.

Week by week

Thirty days, one step at a time.

Thirty days from 1 October to 31 October. The footage is made in week 4, and everything before it decides whether that week goes well.
  1. 01

    1 to 7 October

    Category and logline

    Choose one category and read its listing text on FilmFreeway, including the runtime. Write five loglines and keep the one that survives a retelling.

  2. 02

    8 to 14 October

    The screenplay

    Five pages for a short, one for a commercial. Draft it in the free screenplay editor, in industry format. If you aim at the Screenwriter category, this is your submission.

  3. 03

    15 to 21 October

    Look for the big screen

    Fix a reference sheet per character and per set. Convert the screenplay into a shot breakdown and refine each frame. Plan the look for a cinema screen.

  4. 04

    22 to 28 October

    The footage

    Generate the film scene by scene as video generation reaches your plan, referring to the storyboard and the approved references. Log every prompt and version.

  5. 05

    29 and 30 October

    Master and subtitles

    Cut, mix and export a clean master. Add English subtitles if the film is not in English. Watch the result once on a large screen.

  6. 06

    31 October

    Check and submit

    Read the listing’s fee and deadline yourself and upload on FilmFreeway. Do not rely on this page or on an aggregator for the date.

Ways to lose the entry

Seven ways to be out before the cinema.

The festival’s details sit behind FilmFreeway, so the risk is mostly in what you cannot see. Read the listing yourself before you pay.

  • An unchecked runtime

    The summaries give no running time for any category. A film that exceeds an unseen limit is out. Read the category text before you edit.

  • The wrong category

    AI Film, AI Movie Director and Best Animation Short overlap. Pick the one the film is built for, and ask the organisers when the name does not explain itself.

  • No English subtitles

    Works not in English require English subtitles, and a generated voice-over is dialogue like any other.

  • AI at the margins

    The festival is about moving-image art expanded through generative AI. A film where AI only fixes colour or removes an object is not what it describes.

  • A look made for a phone

    Selected films play on a cinema screen. Crushed blacks, small text and thin audio that pass on a phone will show up there.

  • A festival with a near-identical name

    Several Korean AI festivals have close names, such as the Seoul International AI Film Festival, which is a separate event. Check the FilmFreeway address before you pay.

  • A fee or date from an index

    The fee is $20, or $15 for Gold Members, and the deadline 31 October, according to aggregators and search summaries. Confirm both on FilmFreeway.

Why ScreenWeaver

A festival with a Screenwriter prize. ScreenWeaver starts there.

KACF imposes no tool, and it lists a category for the written work. ScreenWeaver covers the whole chain: screenplay, storyboard and footage in one connected project.

  • The screenplay is a submission

    If you aim at the Screenwriter category, ScreenWeaver’s free plan covers it. If you aim at a film, the same screenplay feeds the storyboard and the footage.

  • One project, several categories

    A short, a trailer, a music video and a poster can come from the same world and the same references. You can change the format, not the method.

  • A look that holds on a big screen

    Characters, locations and references carry from shot to shot, which keeps a film coherent in a cinema where mismatches show.

  • Start for free today

    A screenplay is the one entry you can finish for free on the Screenwriter plan, with no expiry. Storyboard Beta adds the shot-by-shot plan for $9.99 a month. Seedance generation comes with the Filmmaker plan, which is rolling out now.

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 AI film festivals

Guides for other festivals

Go further

Guides for festival films

FAQ

The Korea AI Cinema Festival, your questions

How do you win the Korea AI Cinema Festival?
A jury led by Jung-Wook Kim judges storytelling, directing, cinematic expression and what AI makes possible for cinema, and gives Gold, Silver, Bronze and Jury Awards per category. Enter the category your film is built for, with a clear story and a look that holds on a big screen.
What is the deadline?
31 October 2026 is the regular deadline according to aifilmcontests.com, kajimelo.com and the FilmFreeway listing as relayed by search. Confirm it on FilmFreeway, including any late window.
What does entry cost?
A search summary of the listing gives $20, or $15 for Gold Members. aifilmcontests.com says the amount varies by category. Read the fee at checkout.
What can I enter?
AI Film, AI Music Video, AI Movie Director, Best Animation Short, Best AI Commercial Film, Best Trailer Film, Film Poster and Screenwriter. A Best Picture of the Year is chosen from the Gold winners, according to aifilmcontests.com.
Can I submit a screenplay?
A Screenwriter category is listed. The summaries we read do not describe its format, so confirm what to submit on FilmFreeway before you write.
Where is the festival held?
In Seoul. The second edition screened 110 AI films over two days at the large theatre of the Seoul Film Center in Chungmuro. The 2026 edition is dated 17 December by aggregators.
Do I need a specific AI tool?
No tool is imposed in the summaries we read: any generative AI tool is allowed, and generative AI must be central to the work.
Is this the Seoul International AI Film Festival?
No. It is a separate event with its own listing and rules. Check the FilmFreeway address before you pay.

Thirty days. Start with the page.

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