Debut Directors Dominate Shanghai Film Festival; AI Shapes Conversation

Variety reports the **28th Shanghai International Film Festival** closed on **June 21** with debut directors taking top honors and AI emerging as a central industry conversation. Variety reports that **Zhong Kaifeng's** debut feature **"Atlantic Rhapsody"** won the **Golden Goblet** best feature and also took best cinematography for **Hao Jiayue**. Variety reports that the **Asian New Talent** section was dominated by debut films: **Gong Yiwen's** **"Her First Taste"** won best film and best actress for **Ma Fufu**, **Sompot Chidgasornpongse's** **"9 Temples to Heaven"** won multiple prizes, and, apart from the best screenplay award to **"Hunter's Moon"**, every Asian New Talent prize went to a debut feature, according to Variety. Variety also notes the festival highlighted its talent-development pipeline, including the **SIFF Project** for project incubation, and that panels and coverage emphasised artificial intelligence as a complementary tool for filmmakers. Source: https://letsdatascience.com/news/debut-directors-dominate-shanghai-film-festival-ai-shapes-co-fe4c2285