LA SVAIFF 2026 announces winners in 13 categories… Grand Prix to 「Into the Rain」, opening remarks by Co-Chair JI LIN and a panel with Advisory Committee Chair Dr. JAY HOYOUNG LEE

The winners in 13 categories of the 2026 LA-Silicon Valley AI Film Festival (LA SVAIFF 2026), held on Sunday, November 1 (local time) at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, USA, have been announced. The Grand Prix went to 「Into the Rain」 by Visional Studio and the Grand Jury Prize to 「Lost & Found」 by Gleb Kusakin, and on the day JI LIN, Co-Chair of the SVAIFF KOREA 2026 Organizing Committee, took the opening stage while Advisory Committee Chair Dr. JAY HOYOUNG LEE joined a panel discussion.

According to a press release issued on November 10 by the U.S. organizer Star Alliance Culture Inc., the opening remarks were given by SVAIFF founder Chairman SING CHANG; Sarah Wang, co-founder, vice chair and CEO of the LA competition; Ke Ke, filmmaker, vice chair and juror; and Co-Chair JI LIN. The program continued with screenings, keynote speeches, panel discussions and performances.

Winners of LA SVAIFF 2026

• Grand Prix: 「Into the Rain」 (Visional Studio)
• Grand Jury Prize: 「Lost & Found」 (Gleb Kusakin)
• Best Feature Film: 「A Song of the Sacred Tree and the Endless Night」 (RexTrix user User_65SPCDHJ)
• Best Short Film: 「Duskwood Roar」 (Rui Gao)
• Best Director: Linko, 「Apocalypse: The Seventh Prime Stone」
• Best Screenplay: 「Before She Speaks」 (Yuexuan Jia)
• Best Shot Design: 「The Yield」 (Johnny Fine)
• Best AI Workflow & Innovation: 「Little Sun」 (Liz Chen)
• Best Editing: 「Burn It For Him」 (Mirrold Xie)
• Best Production Design: 「Made with Love」 (Hyeokjin Choi)
• Best Score: 「Rubato」 (RexTrix user Gucci Travolta)
• Best Animated Film: 「The Fungal Realm」 (Huaichuan Chang)
• Best Music Video: 「Awaker」 (CHANÉE, Riccardo M)

Keynote speeches were given by Fred Grinstein, co-founder of Machine Cinema; Bing He, co-founder of SVAIFF; Chris Kerzich, senior vice president of RexTrix; and Marc T. Gaspard Bolin, documentary filmmaker and UCLA professor. Ten experts took part in two panels, and Dr. JAY HOYOUNG LEE joined industry figures in the first panel, 'Investment, AI-Native Production, Brand Strategy & IP Innovation'.

The LA competition was sponsored by the AI filmmaking platform RexTrix, the AI creative tool Zopia AI and the AI creator community AAFF, among others. The organizers said they plan to expand regional competitions to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Paris, London, Beijing, New York and Korea.

The LA competition is a separate event run by the U.S. organizer Star Alliance Culture Inc., and it is connected to the Seoul competition through the SVAIFF global network. The 50 winning works of the Korea competition advance to the global final (the host covers the evaluation fee for the 19 prize winners; the 31 Global Final Encouragement Award winners pay their own).

Supported by Co-Chair JI LIN, SVAIFF KOREA 2026 and the Global AI IDOL Award 2026 are public-interest events with no participation fees, no paid seats and no sales, and both entry and admission are free. They will be held on Thursday, December 17 at Gabin Art Hall in Samseong-dong, Seoul, and entries are accepted from October 25 to November 25 at korea.svaiff.com.

SVAIFF KOREA 2026 entry deadline: Wednesday, November 25, 23:59:59 KST (14:59:59 UTC) · korea.svaiff.com/film

Source: SignalNews New York press release (distributed by EIN Presswire, November 10, 2026). Photos from the original release are not included.