'I'm Popo': South Korea's Breakthrough AI Theatrical Feature

On May 21, 2026, two AI theatrical features opened simultaneously in South Korean cinemas. One of them, "I'm Popo," was made almost entirely by one person in two months. Its director, Kim Il-dong, wrote the script and ran every AI prompt himself, with professional voice actors brought in for audio. He had no production crew in the traditional sense.

Kim is a webtoon artist making his feature film debut. His goal was explicit: "What I wanted to argue most with this project is that the era of the one person film has arrived."

A Story About the Algorithm

"I'm Popo" runs 64 minutes. In it, an AI robot police officer in a near future society identifies a child as a future criminal and moves to eliminate the threat before any crime occurs. The child's father takes the algorithm to court. The film positions algorithmic certainty against human moral judgment without resolving the tension in either direction.

The plot mirrors the real world debate around AI decision systems, written by a director who built the film using exactly those tools. Kim's production company is Interconmedia Intl., with Korean distribution handled by Cinema Newone.

Two Months, No Crew

The production model for "I'm Popo" is the more disruptive story. Kim wrote the script, ran the AI prompts, and assembled the visuals largely alone. There are no on screen performers. The entire runtime is AI generated imagery, with voice actors providing the audio track after the visuals were complete.

The process took roughly two months from start to finish. For context, a conventional Korean theatrical feature at similar runtime would typically involve a crew of dozens and a production timeline measured in years, not weeks.

Festival Circuit and Recognition

Before its Korean theatrical release, "I'm Popo" screened internationally. It played at Spain's Girona Film Festival and at Russia's Amur Autumn International Film Festival, where screenings sold out. The film won the Grand Prize at the Korea AI Content Awards.

The award is significant as a formal institutional recognition of AI generated filmmaking in South Korea, not simply a niche online competition. Kim debuted the project at the Seoul Film Center before taking it to international markets.

Two AI Films Open the Same Day

"I'm Popo" is not South Korea's only AI theatrical release in May 2026. "Man in Hanbok," directed by Lee Sang-hoon and based on his best selling novel, also opens May 21. That film uses AI to reconstruct both Joseon court scenes and Renaissance Italy for a historical fantasy about the 1442 disappearance of scientist Jang Yeong-sil. It screened at the Busan International Film Festival in 2025 and won the grand prize at the second Korea Artificial Intelligence Cinema Festival. Both films are produced by Interconmedia Intl.

Two AI theatrical features opening on the same day from the same production company marks a clear inflection point for Korean AI cinema, not a one off experiment.

Where Korea Fits

South Korea has moved faster on AI theatrical releases than most markets. "Run to the West" in October 2025 was the first Korean AI-integrated theatrical feature. "I'm Popo" and "Man in Hanbok" arriving together a year later suggests the pace is accelerating rather than plateauing.

The South Korean market is also a proving ground discussed at major Asian film markets. Director Carlos Saldanha addressed AI's role in production at the Busan International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong FilMart where "I'm Popo" made its market debut hosted extensive AI programming this year. Jia Zhangke's AI experiments at the same FilMart event drew attention to how Asian directors are approaching the technology from a different angle than Hollywood. At Cannes 2026, Yeon Sang-ho's Colony took a more cautious position, using AI only to generate zombie crowds while making collective AI logic the film's central horror.

Kim Il-dong's argument, built into the film and stated directly, is that the tools now exist for a single person to take a story from concept to theater without a production infrastructure. "I'm Popo" is the evidence he submitted. Filmmakers exploring the same tools can access AI FILMS Studio's video workspace to test what those workflows look like in practice.

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Sources

Variety | The Korea Herald