Zopia × AIGC ASIA 2026: Partnership and Timeline

October 18, 2026 update: submissions have closed and expert judging is underway. The next scheduled stage is the showcase and public vote, beginning October 26.

A familiar gesture, a workshop sound or an object still used in daily life can become the beginning of a film. AIGC ASIA 2026 invites creators to explore those connections through generative AI and intangible cultural heritage. Zopia and MiniMax are joint chief partners of the inaugural competition, supporting the journey from a creative idea to images and films.

If you have submitted a work, this is the moment to follow judging and prepare for the next announcements. If you are joining as a viewer, the upcoming showcase offers a way to discover the subjects and people behind the entries. We will maintain this page as the competition moves through its scheduled stages.

A competition built around cultural expression

AIGC ASIA 2026 focuses on intangible cultural heritage and the Greater Bay Area, with moving-image and visual-design tracks. A film can reveal a subject through time, action and a person’s changing perspective. A poster can make an argument through composition, symbols and the relationship between visual elements.

Both formats begin with a creative question: how can a cultural practice become understandable to someone encountering it today? That question gives a project more direction than a collection of style terms alone.

A filmmaker might follow someone learning a particular action, returning to a familiar place or finding a new use for an old object. A designer might concentrate on one visual relationship that helps an audience see a tradition differently. The smaller the question, the easier it becomes to find references and make deliberate production decisions.

Generative tools can help develop and produce the imagery. The creator still chooses whose experience matters, what the viewer needs to understand and how each image contributes to that experience.

How Zopia and MiniMax participate

Zopia and MiniMax serve as the competition’s joint chief partners. The programme includes creation-credit support for eligible participants, helping creators move from a brief towards practical production.

If you want to use the support, enter through the link supplied by the organiser and check the current activity terms. Eligibility, credit use and validity are part of that specific programme, so they belong alongside your production planning.

The partnership also connects with a finished work: the official theme song and music video, 《让千年正年轻》, created by 韦优 Excellent. The song and MV were presented at the September 17 creator launch event in Shenzhen. The reported production combines songwriting and direction by the creator, AI singing and video production in collaboration with Zopia’s AI director.

For another creator, the useful starting point is the relationship between those tasks. A song has an emotional structure. A film needs a viewing sequence. Planning the two together helps determine where a quiet image should hold, where an action should develop and where the edit should change pace.

The competition timeline

Future stages follow the organiser’s current schedule. When the showcase opens, its official entry point will be the place to view works with the correct creator information. After results are published, this timeline can connect those milestones with the confirmed works and announcements.

What the submission milestone brought together

The October 13 report on the close of collection records 21,880 registered creators from 220 cities, more than 50,000 film and poster entries, and participation from 300+ communities, universities and institutions.

These figures describe the competition at that point in its programme. They also suggest the range of people approaching the same cultural theme: experienced filmmakers, visual designers, people familiar with local traditions and creators developing a first AI-assisted project.

Different backgrounds can make a shared assignment more interesting. One person may begin with a family memory, another with a technical gesture and another with the atmosphere of a place. The same tools can support very different films when the sources, questions and creative decisions change.

As a viewer, look for the particular detail that makes a work understandable. Does the film explain why an action matters? Does it give a person space to act? Does a visual change help the story move? Those questions can make watching useful for your own next project, too.

If you have submitted: prepare for the next conversation

Keep the exact film or poster you submitted, together with its title, synopsis, contributor names and source material. If the organiser requests information for a showcase, those records will help you respond consistently.

It is also worth preparing a short creative note. Start with three questions: why did you choose the subject, which detail matters most and how did you turn it into an image or scene?

For example, a note about a craft-themed film could explain why the story follows an apprentice observing, hesitating and trying again. That is more revealing than a broad statement about celebrating culture. It gives viewers a way to notice the decisions inside the work.

If you share the entry during the showcase, link to the official work page and preserve the title and creator credit. A complete context helps an audience encounter the intended work rather than an isolated clip.

If you are watching: choose a route through the showcase

Start with something specific: a region, a type of practice or a narrative approach that interests you. Read the introduction, watch the full work and then return to the detail that stayed with you.

You might compare the way two films introduce a person or establish a space. One may rely on voice, another on an action and another on a change in viewpoint. Notice which approach helps you understand the subject and why.

For public voting, use the official rules when that stage opens. When sharing a work, add a concrete observation: an interesting transition, a meaningful gesture or a question about the cultural context. Specific discussion gives creators more to respond to than a generic reaction.

Planning your own heritage-inspired film

Begin with one researched scene. It could follow someone entering a workshop, preparing an object or bringing a finished piece back into daily use. Collect the context and references before asking for a visual style.

Next, divide the scene into a few shots with different jobs. Establish the place, introduce the person, reveal the object, show a reaction and complete an action. Decide which images suit generation and which require another source or production method.

Bring the story, character references, location information and shot intentions into your Zopia project. When an output needs work, return to those decisions. A changing object may need a clearer reference; a confusing action may need two simpler shots. A clear plan gives each revision a purpose.

The competition’s theme is a useful reminder that the cultural subject can guide the technology. A small, coherent sequence can say more than a much larger collection of unrelated imagery.

Visit AIGC ASIA for the official schedule and work announcements. When you are ready to develop your own sequence, start at Zopia with a brief, a few references and a story you want someone to understand.

Sources

• AIGC ASIA: theme, partners and official schedule
• September 20 creator-launch and MV report, attributed to 周口网 and republished by China Daily’s website
• October 13 submission report, attributed to 东方网 and republished by China Daily’s website