Brief
AI‑generated films debut at Singapore’s 61st birthday celebrations
Singapore’s birthday showcase featured two fully AI‑created movies, underscoring a surge in AI‑driven content across Asia.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Singapore marked its 61st anniversary with two feature‑length films that contained no human actors, Fortune reported on October 7. "Bersama Majulah" imagines a zombie‑infested Singapore, while "Trace Project" follows a young man who becomes the nation’s first astronaut on Mars. Both movies were entirely generated by artificial intelligence, with only the scripts written by humans.
What happened
The twin premieres were part of the national birthday programme and were streamed online for a domestic audience. According to the article, the films were produced using generative‑AI tools that created all visual elements, from characters to environments, without any on‑set filming. The move follows a rapid expansion of AI‑driven content in the region; Chinese state media said more than 95% of the 120,000 micro‑dramas released in the first quarter of 2026 were AI‑generated, up from virtually none a year earlier.
What the reports add
Fortune notes that the AI film trend began with short‑form content and is now moving into longer formats. It cites Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, which in September released a 10‑episode drama "You, and Only You" featuring AI‑generated characters, and mentions that TVB is now using virtual actors in advertising. The article also lists major players developing the technology: Kuaishou’s Kling AI platform, which claims 100 million users and 70% overseas revenue; ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 model; Alibaba’s open‑source HappyHorse; and U.S. startup Higgsfield AI.
What was said
"AI is like oxygen—it’s everywhere," Danming Xie, senior vice‑president and chief AI scientist at Chinese video‑streaming platform iQiyi, told Fortune. "It’s increasingly impossible not to use AI in video production. The conversation’s shifting more toward how deeply creators use it." Chris Shaw, head of the Puttnam School of Film and Animation at Singapore’s Lasalle College of the Arts, warned, "There’s been a lot of redundancies in China. A lot of actors and studios have suddenly disappeared."
How it came about
The Singapore showcase reflects a broader regional shift toward AI‑generated storytelling. Earlier this year, Chinese state media highlighted the dominance of AI in micro‑drama production, and Hong Kong’s TVB experiment demonstrated the technology’s viability for longer series. The rapid adoption is driven by platforms seeking cost‑effective content creation and the ability to reach global audiences, as illustrated by Kling AI’s overseas revenue share.
Key facts
- Singapore’s 61st birthday featured two fully AI‑generated films, "Bersama Majulah" and "Trace Project". (fortune.com)
- Over 95% of more than 120,000 Chinese micro‑dramas released in Q1 2026 were AI‑generated, according to Chinese state media. (fortune.com)
- iQiyi senior VP Danming Xie described AI as "like oxygen" in video production. (fortune.com)
- Kuaishou’s Kling AI platform claims 100 million users and 70% of its revenue from overseas markets. (fortune.com)
Sources
- [1] fortune.com — originally reported as “Will AI kill the Asian entertainment industry, or reinvent it?”
