Highlights from our undergraduate reporting and writing class
5 May 2026Award-winning AI Film Showcase + Meeting the Directors
Come watch with us the latest award-winning AI Films from Cannes’ World AI Film Festival (WAIFF) and Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF). We will showcase 2026 WAIFF's best action film, "A Dollar Story," and Japan Best AI Film Award Winner, "This is Me", and 2026 BJIFF's Best AI Feature Film, "Seven Fleeting Days," as well as the Best Short Film and Best Visual Design in the AIGC Short Film Unit, "The Tale of the Peony."
The films' directors will take part in a post-screening talk with SFM Director Professor Ruby Yang, discussing their production journey and experience with GenAI technologies. Details below.
Date: Thursday, May 21
Time: 4 - 6:30 pm
Venue: CPD-3.04, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus
RSVP: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=106710
The Tale of the Peony | 牡丹記
Best Short Film & Best Visual Design in the AIGC Short Film Unit at the 2026 Beijing International Film Festival
Co-directed by Yuqing LIU and Jintao Sun
The Tale of the Peony is an AI-generated experimental short film inspired by the life of the late Tang dynasty poet Yu Xuanji. Blending Chinese zhiguai traditions with a surreal visual style and the aesthetics of traditional paper-sculpture intangible cultural heritage, the film explores the fate of talented women under structural oppression in traditional society.
Director bio:
Yuqing Liu is a PhD candidate in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Hong Kong.
She is the Co-director of the AI-generated experimental short film The Tale of the Peony / 《牡丹記》, which received Best Short Film and Best Visual Design in the AIGC Short Film Unit at the Beijing International Film Festival, and has been selected for the Seoul International AI Film Festival, AI International Film Festival, and other film festivals.
A Dollar Story
Best Action Film at the World AI Film Festival 2026
Directed by Sheng QIU
The century-long odyssey of a single dollar bill: traversing a hundred years of cinematic history, enduring both plunder and worship, and ultimately returning to dust. Utilising AI as an infinite archive, this film dissects humanity's eternal dream of wealth through a fluid tapestry of moving images.
Director bio:
Sheng QIU was born in Hangzhou, China. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering before becoming a filmmaker. His feature debut, Suburban Birds (2018), has been selected for the Locarno Film Festival and more than 20 other international film festivals. His second feature, MY FATHER'S SON, has won the Best Artistic Achievement award at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
Seven Fleeting Days | 七日浮生
Best AI Feature Film Award at the 2026 Beijing International Film Festival
Directed by Phoenix LIU
The 45-minute feature, Seven Days of Floating Life, is directed by emerging filmmaker Phoenix Liu, inspired by a serious diving accident she experienced in Bali. The film transforms abstract psychological trauma, emotional fluctuations, and the journey of healing into seven distinct dreamlike worlds, each with its own style.
Director bio:
Phoenix Liu is an AI film director and creative technologist, and the recipient of the Best AI Feature Film Award at the 2026 Beijing International Film Festival. She is the founder of Yuguang Tongchi AI, serves as Director and AIGCer, and leads VIDU Content Studio.
Liu has directed projects for over 200 leading brands and collaborated with more than 100 artists, establishing herself as a distinctive voice in contemporary AI cinema.
This is Me
World AI Film Festival 2026 Japan Best AI Film Award Winner
Directed by Marika Hirata
This short animated film depicts the discrepancy between the fluidity of gender identity and the "simplicity" demanded by society, using a unique visual style that blends fantasy and realism.
Director bio:
Appointed as a Creative Director at 24, Hirata specialises in AI-integrated visual innovation. As the CEO of METREA Inc., Hirata plans and directs advertising films that merge AI
technology with narrative for major brands and organisations.