[BIFAN 2026] Enjoying Bucheon 30 Years in 100 Times ② Bucheon Is AI! AI Content Summit & Beyond Reality

AI films are Bucheon’s main focus. For the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (executive committee chair Shin Cheol, hereinafter BIFAN), “Bucheon AI Contents Summit” (Bucheon AI Contents Summit) will be introduced for the first time this July, positioning itself as a venue for global exchanges in the AI video-content industry and as a business hub. The Bucheon AI Contents Summit is an integrated platform designed to build a Bucheon-style content-industry leading model that merges AI, video content, and tourism. With the goal of developing the summit into a new global hub for the AI video-content industry, BIFAN plans to create a forum where domestic and international creators and industry stakeholders can connect in practical ways.

Held over five days from Saturday, July 4, through Wednesday, July 8, in and around Bucheon—at Bucheon Art Center, Bucheon City Hall’s Fantastic Cube, and Bucheon Art Bunker B39, among other locations—the Bucheon AI Contents Summit will be organized around the theme “AI Film Value Chain.” About 300 people from 12 countries—including domestic and international AI video-content companies, creators, investors, and representatives from institutions—are expected to take part. The key programs include AI Frontier (non-competition AI film invited screenings), an AI international conference, AI·XR business meetings, an immersive exhibition, and a fam tour.

Through AI film screenings and immersive exhibitions, attendees can gauge the latest trends in the art & technology sector and where future content stands. In AI Frontier, the non-competition invited section, BIFAN’s creativity-support works as well as a variety of AI films from home and abroad will be showcased. Screenings run for four days from Saturday, July 4, to Tuesday, July 7, at Fantastic Cube. At the immersive exhibition, visitors will be able to experience future content firsthand through leading XR works from Korea and overseas. The exhibition is scheduled to take place at Bucheon Art Bunker B39 and at Bucheon City Hall from Friday, July 3, to Sunday, July 12.

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At the AI International Conference, which makes “AI Film Value Chain”—the summit’s theme—its core agenda, global experts will gather to examine in depth how AI technology is changing the landscape of the film industry. Professor Kim Dae-sik of KAIST opens the keynote with a speech on the future film ecosystem in the era of AI mimesis, and together with Damien Pereira, representative of the Quebec Government Representation in Korea, the panel will also look at the case of the Quebec government, a global hub for cutting-edge video content such as VFX, media art, and AI. Michael Pavel, representative of Odins AI, the distributor of 〈POST TRUTH〉, the first AI feature-length documentary film, will introduce the current state of AI film distribution in Europe. Jeong Tae-sang, representative of Contents Saero, will cover practical monetization strategies for AI-based content through examples using short dramas. Jong-min Kim, representative of Studio Realive, and Katsutoshi Machiba, director of the Beyond the Frame Festival, will take a look at the future of next-generation audience experiences through examples of virtual performance production and virtual artists. BIFAN executive committee chair Shin Cheol, Professor Lee Seung-moo of Korea National University of Arts, and Attorney Ahn Hee-cheol will present principles on copyright and ethical standards that must be addressed in the AI creative era. In the ensuing panel discussion, the conference will share domestic and international corporate investment and public support acquisition cases involving AI film directors, and it is expected to lay out practical directions for building a healthy ecosystem for the AI video industry.

In addition, the AI·XR Creator Showcase—a public pitching program for creators working on generative AI-based projects—will lead into business meetings, where global AI film directors, representatives of content companies, and overseas buyers will come together to create practical collaboration and business opportunities. The event will also include fam tours to strengthen ties with the local tourism industry. Meanwhile, BIFAN has held an AI international conference for the first time at the 2024 festival to discuss industry agendas, and it has cultivated emerging creators by introducing generative AI into the Fantasy Film School, its education and support program. Based on this global network and its leading experience in the AI film field, the Bucheon AI Contents Summit was selected for the 2026 Gyeonggi-do region-specific MICE discovery and fostering contest program. As the organizer, BIFAN plans to expand the practical AI film ecosystem and build a sustainable business model through this summit. It will be held during the 30th BIFAN period, which opens on Thursday, July 2, and all events are free of charge. Detailed conference schedules and ticketing methods will be announced later through the official Bucheon AI Contents Summit website (www.bucheonsummit.com).

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The lineup for the key featured works to spotlight the new media program “Beyond Reality” has also been unveiled—by now, it has firmly established itself as one of BIFAN’s flagship programs. This year, beyond the “Portal” (door) main sculpture at the lawn plaza in front of Bucheon City Hall, the event will also roll out immersive programs in Bucheon across multiple locations, including a VR K-POP concert and a domed cinema work by a French media-art artist commemorating the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations.

The festival presents a future-oriented model that goes beyond the conventional approach in which audiences sit in front of a screen to watch films. Instead, it invites participants to move around the entire city of Bucheon to experience virtual reality and media art. At “Galaxy Base” in Bucheon Art Bunker B39, which leads from the Portal at the lawn plaza in front of Bucheon City Hall to the climax of the journey, Bucheon’s first-ever unveiling of the installation work 〈Anarema〉 by Japanese media-art artist Yasuhiro Chida will take place, using light and space to let visitors walk directly inside the works. Alongside this, globally acclaimed featured works will be revealed for the first time—such as the full-length VR cinema 〈Clouds over 2000 Meters〉 by Director Singying Chen, the winner of last year’s Best Work in the Venice Immersive category—letting audiences experience the narrative by moving through space themselves. This turns the expectations raised when the previous theme was announced into certainty.

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At the Bucheon Cheonmun Science Museum’s “Star Light Theater,” a special program celebrating the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations will be waiting for visitors. Screenings will feature works by French director Fran3cois Vautier (DOME CINEMA). By combining a massive dome screen with immersive sound, it delivers an overwhelming sense of immersion that draws visitors to the middle of space, much like a large spherical concert venue in Las Vegas, the “Sphere.” In addition, it will also present widely accessible content that families—together, including children and teenagers—can enjoy while immersing themselves in the experience, continuing the streak of last year’s sellout on weekends.

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Group participation programs have also been significantly expanded. At the screening hall “CUBE” inside Bucheon City Hall, a VR screening of a K-POP concert that can accommodate up to 50 people at the same time will be offered. On weekends, an XR performance will be held around the Portal (door) in the lawn plaza, with about 30 citizens taking part directly, offering a glimpse into the popular potential of future entertainment. A hub has also been set up to improve audience mobility and to organically connect exhibition spaces. At the XR lounge “Space Garden” in the lobby of Bucheon City Hall, the hub will serve as a guide point for key new media locations and as an experience space for family visitors. In particular, this year, with sponsorship from Onsemi Korea, a semiconductor company in the Bucheon region, shuttle programs will connect each exhibition space. The event is designed so that the act of moving through the city itself becomes one continuous cinematic experience.

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BIFAN executive committee chair Shin Cheol said, “This year, Beyond Reality is a bold attempt to expand beyond just watching content and to turn the entire city into a single cinematic experience structure.” He added, “Starting from the gate of the lawn plaza, we hope it becomes a time when audiences experience the possibilities of future films with their whole bodies through world-class featured works.” Beyond Reality 2026 will be operated from Friday, July 3, to Sunday, July 12, at locations including the lawn plaza in front of Bucheon City Hall, the lobby of Bucheon City Hall, the Bucheon Cheonmun Science Museum, and Bucheon Art Bunker B39. The 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival will run for 11 days in the area of Bucheon from Thursday, July 2, through Sunday, July 12.