Feelings vs. the Algorithm: Shanghai Launches a Cinema Experiment Where AI and Directors Work Under a Microscope

While the Cannes Film Festival debates whether it is acceptable to resurrect John Lennon with neural networks, China has launched a far more radical project. The Shanghai International Film Festival has kicked off the “AI Film Set” — not merely a short film competition, but an open laboratory. Here, as humans and algorithms divide the film set between them, scientists, students, and the entire industry are watching. The main rule of the experiment is disarming: no rules. Only sincerity.Not the Film, but the Process

The organizers made it clear from the outset: the goal is not to find the new genius of neural network cinema. The goal is to understand how this whole thing works. And doesn’t work.

The “AI Film Set” is conceived as a longitudinal cross-section of the production process. Participants are asked to document everything: who is responsible for what, how the budget is distributed, why this specific take was chosen and that one was sent to the trash. The result of a month’s work will be not only four short films but also the industry’s first “Report on the Observation of AI Integration into Film Production.” In essence, it is an attempt to turn the chaotic, spontaneous process of AI adoption in cinema into an object of systematic study.

Nearly 500 people from seven countries submitted applications. Twenty-two finalists were selected and grouped into four teams, each containing a “traditional” director and an “AI super-creator” — a neural network specialist.Four Teams, Four Approaches

The lineup of participants is diverse and promising.

“Bicycle Kids” is the only international team. Director Hou Zuxin from China and AI-director Mark Wachholz from Germany. From the very start, they faced what any cross-cultural project faces: different backgrounds, different ideas of what constitutes a “good shot,” and different degrees of trust in the algorithm.

“Lightcone” — the team of director Huang Lei and actor Wu Hankun — has set itself the task of shooting science fiction using a method of “live shooting plus AI processing.” The hybrid approach itself is intriguing here: not abandoning the camera, but passing its image through a neural network.

“Three-Headed Monster” — a duo of screenwriter Yu Xi and AI specialist Li Zheyan. Judging by the name, the boldest formal decisions should be expected from them.

“Skilled Crafters” — the team of Li Xinxin and Wang Ze. Their approach is currently the least public, but it is precisely such “dark horses” that often surge ahead at the finish.The Only Requirement: Feelings

The organizers’ most unexpected decision is the complete absence of a technical brief. No one is telling the teams what genre to shoot in, what runtime to adhere to, or which tools to use. The only imperative sounds almost naive: “zhen qing shi gan” — sincere, genuine feelings.

There is a deliberate maneuver behind this. The organizers want to shift the focus from technology back to the human being. Too often, the conversation about AI in cinema boils down to two extremes: either “neural networks will replace everyone” or “true art will die.” The Shanghai experiment offers a third path: the algorithm is a tool, and a tool is judged by whether it helps tell a human story or hinders it.What Will Be Shown in June

The culmination of the project is scheduled for June 14–15, 2026, when the festival site will transform into an open public space. The teams will hold workshops, screen their films, and recount in detail how they arrived at their results.

The organizers have formulated a list of questions that the report should at least begin to answer. Does AI kill jobs or merely change their nature? Do neural networks make production cheaper or simply redistribute the budget? And, perhaps the most tormenting question for any director who has held a generative tool for the first time: how do you choose the best take if the algorithm can produce a thousand variations in a minute?Context

The project is running with the support of the Hailuo AI platform by MiniMax — one of the leading Chinese players in generative AI. A separate section of the festival, titled “My Story,” will invite participants to create mini-films based on texts by historian Yi Zhongtian and works by artist Feng Zikai.

The Shanghai experiment is, in essence, an attempt to answer a question that is still only being formulated. At what point does the collaboration between a human and a machine cease to be merely “using a tool” and become something else? And who, then, is the author — the one who wrote the prompt, or the one who decided to keep this particular take?

There are no answers yet. But in a month, they will emerge. At least, the first ones.