Filmmakers at Cannes urge embrace of AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the movie industry and film producers should actively embrace the technology upgrades, Chinese and French filmmakers said at the "China Film+" forum held during the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

The event, co-hosted by the China Film Producers' Association and Wings Sight -- a Beijing-based media company, brought together film professionals and technology executives from China, France and other countries to discuss the integration of AI with cinema.

"When AI comes, we don't need to fear it. We should embrace it, study it, and apply it better in our creations," said Jiang Ping, president of China Xia Yan Film Association.

"Film is an artistic form of technology. It cannot separate from technological change and progress. Every reform and innovation in film technology raises the industry to a new level, an upgrade. I believe it is through these continual upgrades that film keeps advancing," said Li Shaohong, a Chinese film and television director and producer.

The Chinese film industry is actively exploring the use of AI-generated content (AIGC), virtual production and intelligent filming, which not only improves production efficiency but also expands the creative space for cinematic expression.

Several AIGC works by Chinese producers were screened at the forum, showing China's practices in virtual shooting and content generation with AI technology.

"Today, the best AI video models are Chinese. Probably creators from China will publish things and create things that people will like in the West, in France, in Europe. And that will be very interesting to see these walls colliding and having new kinds of creative and cultural encounters," said Hadrien Gautrot, a French visual artist and AI film expert.

Participants also discussed about creative sovereignty in the AI era at a roundtable.

Construction of the fifth phase of Guangzhou Port's Nansha Port area, one of the major national projects, commenced in Nansha District of Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Friday.

The project is designed with an annual container throughput capacity of 6.7 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), according to the Guangzhou Port Group.

It has four deep-water berths, each capable of accommodating 200,000-ton container vessels, with a combined shoreline exceeding 3,800 meters.

Upon completion of the Phase V project, the total container throughput capacity of the Nansha Port area is expected to reach 35 million TEUs annually. This would place it among the world's leading single port complexes in terms of handling capacity, further solidifying Guangzhou's status as an international shipping hub.