The 30th ifva Awards
AI Creation Finalist Showcase
Acheiropoieta
Cao Shu
China / 12'29'' / In Japanese with Simplified Chinese and English subtitles
Acheiropoieta traces the spectral connections between photography, radiation, and AI through the human shadows left on Nagasaki’s walls after the 1945 atomic bombing. Combining archival images with early AI glitches, the work explores technology as a medium of inscription, memory, and collective fear, where images become traces of absence and connect the living with the dead.
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Acheiropoieta
Cao Shu
Poor Devil
Chen Li
China / 07'36'' / In English with Simplified Chinese and English subtitles
Twenty years ago, a drunk young man was driving through the city at night when he collided with something that could never be clearly identified. The police investigation led nowhere, and his memory of that night—blurred by neon lights, alcohol, and fear—became fragmented, like a corrupted digital signal. He was sentenced to prison, yet one crucial question remained unanswered...
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Poor Devil
Chen Li
THE POST
Akinori Ikuse
Japan / 09'47'' / In Japanese with English subtitles
A story about a red cylindrical postbox in a certain town and a young boy who is about to move overseas.
The boy, an elementary school student, learns how to write letters during a library class and decides to drop one into the postbox without writing a recipient’s address...
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THE POST
Akinori Ikuse
sighnight
Jake Low
新加坡 /11'48'' / In English with English subtitles
A family that appears ordinary on the surface grapples with the weight of expectations, secrets, and the haunting echoes of cultural traditions during a reunion dinner. Tensions escalate when Father demands to meet Daughter's fictitious boyfriend, leading to confrontations that unearth painful truths, shattering the family peace...
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sighnight
Jake Low
Pyre
Chen Si Yuan
China / 06'52'' / In Min Nan with Simplified Chinese and English subtitles
Set in a coastal fishing village in southern China, Pyre drifts between sea wind, ancestral worship, and the quiet violence of old beliefs.
Here, water carries both birth and death. Bloodline weighs heavier than a name, and love is slowly twisted into duty, debt, and sacrifice...
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Pyre
Chen Si Yuan
A DOLLAR STORY
Qiu Sheng
China / 10'00'' / In English with English subtitles
A single dollar bill, spanning a century, has been traded, robbed, given away, gambled on, worshipped, discarded, imagined, and finally returned to dust. In the short film, this dollar bill traverses film history, from The Great Train Robbery to film noir, and all the way to the present day. Each segment represents a film genre, and also a form of desire...
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A DOLLAR STORY
Qiu Sheng
Silili and Tree
Eric Lee
Hong Kong / 15'00'' / No Dialogue and Subtitles
The desire for balance seems a fundamental aspect of our nature, deeply rooted in our genes. Silili & Tree is a story delving into the idea of balance, not just for individuals but also for communities and the wider world. By seeking balance, Silili harnesses the power of frequency and resonance to embark on a transformative journey towards becoming a tree spirit...
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Silili and Tree
Eric Lee
Treehugger
Mufasa Yu
Hong Kong / 07'04'' / No Dialogue and Subtitles
THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO HUG. BUT THEY HUG ANYWAY.
In a damp, fog-soaked wetland, John wanders through loneliness carrying a quiet longing for connection. There he meets a fragile small tree, equally awkward, equally alone...
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Treehugger
Mufasa Yu
The Tale of the Peony
Liu Yu Qing, Sun Jin Tao
China, Hong Kong / 07'57'' / In Mandarin with Simplified Chinese and English subtitles
The Tale of the Peony is an AI-generated experimental short film inspired by the life of the late Tang dynasty poet Yu Xuanji. After entering a Taoist convent, Yu Xuanji buries a lock of her hair in the courtyard, and the peony there gradually takes on an eerie crimson hue. A young scholar, Wang Sheng, comes to visit out of curiosity. Their brief encounter soon triggers a strange calamity...
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The Tale of the Peony
Liu Yu Qing, Sun Jin Tao
Never was
Ao Ieong Weng Fong
Macao / 03'08'' / No Dialogue and Subtitles
A man struggles to survive in the bleak ruins of a post-apocalyptic world. For him, pain and delusion are one and the same—a desperate gateway to feeling "alive." When existence itself loses its meaning, nothing else truly matters anymore...
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Never was
Ao Ieong Weng Fong
