Making video with AI is now open to anyone. So what should a film festival look at? SVAIFF KOREA 2026 answers: “the process, together with the result.” Alongside the quality of what appears on screen, the festival will also evaluate what the person who made the work intended and how they worked it through. This article sets out how the festival runs, from entry and judging to awards and the festival day itself.
Seven Doors: the Categories
The categories are AI Narrative Film, AI Animation, AI Documentary, AI Advertising, AI Music Video, AI IDOL and Arirang K-Culture. Everyone, from a single independent creator to a production team, comes in through the same door. Separate awards for youth and university creators and a Special Award widen the stage for newcomers who have only just started making AI video. Detailed specifications and eligibility for each category are set out in the Entry Guide and Entry Rules on the official website.
The Arirang K-Culture category looks for works that retell Korean stories and sensibilities through AI. How old songs, landscapes and everyday lives are reborn on screen when they meet a new tool is something the festival will be watching especially closely.
AI Stands on a Long History of Screens
People have long gathered to look at something together and share stories: nights spent gazing at the moon, paintings on cave walls, shadow plays before a lamp, the cinema screen and the living-room television. The tools kept changing, but the person making the story was always there. The festival’s judging starts from that idea. AI is a tool for making new screens, and what goes on those screens is still decided by people.
75 Points for the Work, 25 for the Process
Judging is out of 100 points: 75 for the finished work and 25 for the creative process.
The finished work is judged on five things: story and structure, direction and completeness, artistic and visual expression, realization of AI results, and editing, music and sound. These are the basic criteria for judging a film as a film.
The creative-process score is the festival’s most distinctive feature. It looks at what the creator intended and how they designed the work (intent and design), what they learned and drew on (learning and references), where they failed and how they fixed it (failure and revision), and what their own role in the work was (own role). The point is to evaluate not a result AI produced on someone’s behalf, but the thinking and hands of the person who drew that result out.
To that end, entrants submit a two-page creative statement and three scenes that support it, along with the video. What matters is the content, not the prose, so writing skill is not scored. Neither the amount of AI used nor the entrant’s academic background counts toward the score. Everyone competes on equal terms, with only their work and their thinking.
One File, Fair for Everyone
Entries are accepted in one way only: as MP4 files uploaded directly on the official entry page, reached through “Submit” on the official website (korea.svaiff.com). The recommended format is H.264 at 1080p, and files of up to 10 GB can be uploaded. If a large upload is interrupted, it can be resumed.
There is a reason links to outside video sites are not accepted. A visible channel name can reveal whose work it is and undermine fair judging, and a video could be changed or deleted in the middle of judging. The festival chose this method so that every work is seen under the same conditions.
Entering and being judged cost nothing: there is no entry fee, participation fee, judging fee or registration fee. Thanks to support from Co-Chair JI LIN, who has also stepped forward as a sponsor of the event, the festival is run as a public-interest event with no fees, no paid seating and no merchandise sales. That support is also why the organizers can pay the U.S. Global Final evaluation fee (USD 99 per work) for the 19 prize-winning works. Creators can simply focus on their work without worrying about cost.
Finished Works First, in Order
The entry period runs from October 25 to November 25. When entrants finish their work, they press “Confirm judging version,” and from November 1 the work enters preliminary judging in the order of confirmation. Rather than viewing everything in a rush at the deadline, the festival will look carefully at works one by one as they are ready. The later judging schedule will be announced on the official website.
50 Winners, and What Comes Next
There are 50 winners in all. In 12 categories, 19 winners (individuals or teams) receive prize money, a certificate and a trophy shared worldwide, and 31 Global Final Encouragement Award winners receive a certificate and a Global Final advancement certificate. Total prize money is KRW 30 million, with a KRW 10 million Grand Prix. Each work may receive only one award, except that a film-category award and Best AI Idol may be received together.
The 50 winning works advance to the Global Final in Silicon Valley, USA, in January 2027, opening onto the international stage. The 19 prize-winning works must enter the final, and the organizers pay their evaluation fee (USD 99 per work). The 31 Global Final Encouragement Award works decide for themselves whether to enter; those that do pay the evaluation fee themselves. Results are not disclosed before the awards ceremony.
The Global AI IDOL Award 2026, Held Alongside
The Global AI IDOL Award 2026 is held on the same day at the same venue. As a pre-showcase ahead of its full launch in 2027, it introduces AI-made idols and related content to audiences and the industry. One winner receives the Best AI Idol award with a prize of KRW 3.5 million. How to take part is explained in the Participation Guide and Participation Rules on the official website, and works can be entered together with a film.
December 17: One Day, Three Acts
The festival takes place on Thursday, December 17, at Gabin Art Hall in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in three acts over one day.
| Time | Part | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 13:30–15:00 | Part 1 | AI conference and talk show — special invited artists and speakers on art in the age of AI |
| 15:30–17:30 | Part 2 | Curated screening of winning works — this year’s AI films on the big screen |
| 18:00–19:30 | Part 3 | Awards ceremony and celebration performances |
Admission is free. Seats go first to invited guests such as the winners, and the remaining seats are offered through free advance registration. There is no paid seating and no merchandise sold on site.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Categories | AI Narrative Film, AI Animation, AI Documentary, AI Advertising, AI Music Video, AI IDOL, Arirang K-Culture + youth and university awards, Special Award |
| Judging | 75 points for the finished work + 25 points for the creative process (writing skill, amount of AI used and academic background not scored) |
| Submission | MP4 video + two-page creative statement + three supporting scenes |
| Video format | H.264, 1080p recommended; up to 10 GB; resumable upload |
| Entry period | October 25 – November 25, 2026 |
| Preliminary judging | From November 1, in the order judging versions are confirmed |
| Festival | Thursday, December 17, 2026, Gabin Art Hall — Part 1 13:30 · Part 2 15:30 · Part 3 18:00 |
| Fees | None — free entry and admission (public-interest event supported by Co-Chair JI LIN) |
| Information | korea.svaiff.com — Entry Guide and Entry Rules, Participation Guide and Participation Rules |
| Media contact | SVAIFF KOREA 2026 Secretariat · help@svaiffkorea.com |