Beijing animation award breaks record with 4,000 entries, over half made with AI

The 26th Animation Academy Award of the Beijing Film Academy took place in Huairou with a record figure: more than 4,000 entries received from around ten countries. It is the highest number in the history of a contest that in China they call "the Oscar of animated short films."

The event kicked off on November 5 with the international animation education forum, focused on how artificial intelligence is changing the way this discipline is taught and learned. Names such as Steve Brown, head of character animation at the California Institute of the Arts, and Maxime Labat, from the École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle in Paris, took part.

The commitment to AI is clear. Of all the works submitted to the award, more than half were pieces generated with artificial intelligence, spread across the categories of AI short film, AI feature film, animated short film, and academic essay.

A 20-hour challenge with 703 teams

One of the highlights was the SI (AI) Smart Imaging Improvisation Challenge, a competition in which participants had 20 hours to create a piece. 703 teams signed up in both in-person and online formats, including some from universities such as Harvard.

The main venue was the Huairou campus of the Beijing Film Academy, but the competition took place simultaneously online. On November 6, two panels were also held: one on the development of the animation industry and parks from a global perspective, and another on superintelligence and the future of the animation industry.

This year's edition also added a new international section: the first official screening in China of the Astana Artificial Intelligence Film Festival 2026, which arrived with direct authorization from the Kazakh event. All within the framework of the Great Wall International Animation Valley in Huairou.

The award has been presented since 2001 and has become one of the most important events for young animation in China. This year it received works from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Spain, Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand, among others.