Shanghai Film Festival 28 Launches AI Technology Unit and Five Service Platforms

The 28th Shanghai International Film Festival opened on June 12, 2026, with the launch of a Technology Creation and Fabrication Unit, a new institutional body dedicated to AI tools, digital imaging, and virtual production. More than 300 guests attended the opening ceremony, including officials from the Yangtze River Delta G60 Alliance and representatives of China's major film institutions.

Three Strategic Priorities for China's Film Industry

Fang Shizhong, Executive Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Director of the Shanghai Film Bureau, set out three priorities for the new unit. First, building a stronger industrial ecosystem using AI and ultra high definition tools. Second, nurturing new cinematic aesthetics through technology. Third, applying AI responsibly without overriding artistic judgment.

Wang Huajie, Secretary of the CPC Songjiang District Committee, and Cao Jun, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Film Association, also addressed the launch ceremony. Cao Jun cited the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan as a "critical window" for the film industry's technology development and called for strengthening copyright protection alongside AI adoption.

Five Service Platforms at Shanghai High-Tech Films and Televisions City

A parallel press conference announced the digital and intelligent ecological matrix for the Shanghai High-Tech Films and Televisions City in Songjiang district. The matrix includes five service platforms:

1. Shanghai International Short Drama Copyright Exchange Center
2. AI Interactive Short Drama Creation Public Service Platform
3. Senyu SPACE MCN AI Full-chain Empowerment Platform
4. AIGC All-in-One Integrated Creative Platform
5. Huace Yangtze River Delta International Film and TV Center AIGC All-scenario Cultural Tourism and Film Empowerment Platform

The platforms cover the full span of short drama production: from copyright trading through creative incubation, AI powered production, and content tourism integration.

Industry Partnerships and the Haowen Fund

SFC Haopu launched its AI+ Digital Content Industry Innovation Platform at the ceremony and announced the Haowen Film Technology Fund. It signed cooperation agreements with four partners: KPS, the Institute of Language Sciences at Shanghai International Studies University, AltStory, and Kuaizi. A separate deal was signed between SFC Haopu and Bund FTC, covering digital content production and AIGC technology.

Film Paradise Co., Ltd. and Anhui Film Group signed a strategic cooperation focused on 4K film restoration and IP exploitation.

China's Cinema Scale and the Five-Year Plan

The scale of the Chinese market gives government coordination a different kind of reach than comparable Hollywood initiatives. China has 93,187 cinemas, more than any other country on earth, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Domestic receipts totaled $7.45 billion in 2025, a 22 percent increase over the year before, with 1.238 billion admissions.

Where individual guild agreements define how US studios adopt AI tools, China's approach builds infrastructure for the entire industry through a single coordinated push tied to national planning cycles. The AI Technology Unit and its five platforms are not festival programs: they are the 2026 iteration of a building effort that has been advancing across major Chinese industry events this year.

The 28th SIFF also runs a separate AI Backlot production program, which pairs traditional filmmakers with AI creators to produce short films live during the festival run. The two initiatives together show the festival operating at both the institutional infrastructure level and the production floor level simultaneously. AI filmmaking tools for international independent filmmakers are available through the AI FILMS Studio video workspace.

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Sources

Variety | The Hollywood Reporter