HKU Launches AI & Filmmaking Week 2026 in Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong's School of Future Media hosted AI & Filmmaking Week 2026 this week, a four day program running March 17 to 20 that drew Academy Award winners, AI researchers, and Korean filmmakers to one of Asia's most important film industry gatherings.

Academy President and Oscar Winner Lead Keynote

Janet Yang, the first Chinese American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, joined School of Future Media Director Professor Ruby Yang for a keynote dialogue on Hollywood's stance toward AI in cinema.

The conversation centered on how the industry can embrace generative tools without eroding intellectual property protections that sustain creative workers. Yang has been pressing this point consistently. At Sundance in February 2026, she called for the industry to establish basic principles before rushing into generative AI deployment, demanding transparency, consent, and data accountability from model developers. Her Hong Kong appearance extends that argument into Asia's fastest growing film market.

South Korean AI Feature Gets Its Asian Premiere

AI & Filmmaking Week 2026 hosted the Asian premiere of Run to the West, South Korea's first AI driven feature film. Directed by Kang Yun Sung, the action thriller deployed generative AI for creature design, large scale environment work, and city wide destruction sequences. The film opened in Korean theaters in October 2025 and ran through CGV multiplex chains.

The premiere brought a concrete case study to the week's programming. Every panel on AI ethics, authorship, and production workflow could point to a commercial feature that had already reached paying audiences as proof of concept.

Four Days of Sessions, Workshops, and Film

Professor Ruby Yang set the tone for the week. "Generative AI is lowering barriers to filmmaking for creators worldwide," she said. "We must ensure AI develops responsibly through transparency, safety, and IP respect."

Sessions across the four days covered neural network video synthesis, machine learning script generation, and AI assisted editing workflows. Panels addressed authorship and creative agency in AI produced work, with dedicated sessions on inclusivity and diversity in AI filmmaking.

The program also featured insights from AI artists based in South Korea and Silicon Valley, giving attendees direct exposure to practitioners working at different ends of the production and research spectrum.

A School Built Around This Moment

The School of Future Media was established in October 2025, combining HKU's Journalism and Media Studies Centre with a documentary and AI filmmaking division and a global creative industries arm. AI & Filmmaking Week is one of its first major public programs.

The event ran alongside FILMART, one of Asia's premier film industry trade events, giving participants direct access to buyers, distributors, and production companies active in the region. That pairing made the week a hybrid of academic programming and industry deal making, a format that reflects the school's stated mission.

The regional context matters. China's AI filmmaking sector has been expanding at speed. Hengdian World Studios alone hosted 3,095 AI powered micro drama productions in 2025, transforming how Chinese studios approach budget and scheduling. Hong Kong sits between that industrial scale and Hollywood's institutional caution, which is precisely what made it the right venue for this conversation.

Filmmakers looking to apply what was discussed this week can access text-to-video and image-to-video generation through AI FILMS Studio.

Sources

University of Hong Kong | EurekAlert! | Scienmag