From African American Boo Hag folklore and Islamic traditions surrounding the afterlife to cyberpunk Tokyo, creators used AI to produce original sci-fi and horror short films during the monthlong competition.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In one month, 194 independent creators from around the world produced and published short films for OiiOii AI’s Into the Paradox: Sci-Fi & Horror Film Contest, exploring stories rooted in cultures and traditions as diverse as African American Boo Hag folklore, Islamic concepts of the afterlife and contemporary Japanese life. The top 10 entries collectively generated more than 1.7 million combined views and interactions across social platforms.

The global competition ran from July 1 through July 31 and challenged creators to make original science fiction and horror films using OiiOii AI. Films ranged from one to five minutes and covered a broad range of visual styles, storytelling approaches and cultural references, extending beyond the contest’s core cyberpunk and science fiction themes.

Unlike competitions centered on established filmmakers or influencer talent, the contest was open to independent creators worldwide. The only language requirement was that films include English dialogue or English subtitles.

Creators used OiiOii AI’s seven-agent workflow across the filmmaking process, including script development, character creation, scene design, storyboarding and video generation.

A panel of three judges reviewed the finalist entries and selected the contest’s top placements and Innovation Award recipients. The judging panel included Hollywood VFX veteran Tun-En Chen, a compositor at Blur Studio, and world-renowned AI artists Gizem Akdag and Ehuang Lu.

Contest winners

Judges praise the field’s range and execution

Chen, who reviewed each finalist film, shared his overall impressions of the group.

“I was really impressed by how confidently the finalists created atmosphere through rain, darkness, lighting, and sound design. There was a real cinematic sense of tension in many of the films,” Chen said. “The photorealism has reached a point where I could stay immersed in the story without thinking too much about the technology behind it. I was also impressed by filmmakers who used AI not just to make things look real, but to explore more imaginative visual ideas, from a ground surface turning into a staircase to character designs built around metaphor rather than physical likeness.

“I think one area that could be pushed further is pacing, especially giving characters a little more time to take in what’s happening. That extra moment gives the audience time to feel what the character is going through and connect with them more. It also helps to establish a little more story context earlier on, so we understand what’s at stake before the tension really starts to build.

“Overall, I really enjoyed seeing how differently each filmmaker approached horror storytelling, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they continue to develop new ways of expressing fear, suspense, and emotion through the genre.”

Grand Prize: BARZAKH: Every End Begins

The Grand Prize went to Muhammad Ihsan Fadli’s BARZAKH: Every End Begins, a film that combines religious themes with futuristic character and environmental design.

Judge Gizem Akdag singled out the film for how it used AI to build a distinctive visual world.

“One of its biggest strengths is how seamlessly it brings together contrasting ideas, from a natural material like wood set against futuristic technological characters to the tension between science and religion,” said Akdag. “Rather than feeling forced, these opposing elements complement each other beautifully, making the world feel unique and thoughtfully constructed. I absolutely loved the wooden character: instead of relying only on realistic human characters, the film takes full advantage of AI’s ability to build an entirely new visual language. The sequence where the character dies was exceptionally well executed, with details like the hands and feet contracting making the scene far more impactful. It has a distinctive style and tells its story in a way that feels genuinely original, one of my favorite films in the selection.”

Chen also weighed in on the film’s cultural grounding.

“The religious context adds depth, but it also seems necessary to understand some of the film’s basic logic,” said Chen. “Without prior knowledge of Barzakh and the Islamic tradition of post-death questioning, the fragmented imagery and voice-over interrogation may feel disconnected rather than intentionally mysterious. But I really like the atmosphere, character design, environments, editing, and sound.”

Second Place: Behind the Eyes

Judge Ehuang Lu commented on the contest’s second-place entry.

“It is a high-quality sci-fi short film that uses AI perfectly to tell a strong story,” said Lu. “Though short, it clearly shows the fear inside us and how we can beat it. It controls the dark lighting and mood amazingly well.”

Akdag also stated: “I really enjoyed the dark world the film creates. The realism is achieved very well, and some of the creature sequences feature particularly impressive visual effects. I especially loved the ending shot, the visual effect there is beautifully executed and shows another great use of AI. It’s a nice reminder that AI isn’t just valuable for generating videos, but also for creating unique visual effects that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.”

Third Place: STRAYED

OiiOii AI’s panel of three judges praised STRAYED for turning an everyday story into effective, understated horror. They pointed to the realistic struggle of a character worked to exhaustion as a modern allegory, the strong consistency between the character and its photorealistic environment, and the film’s tense, paranoid atmosphere as it follows the protagonist through a Japanese city.

The panel also highlighted the film’s twist ending, in which the protagonist turns out to already be dead, as a satisfying payoff to the story’s buildup, as well as its ability to tell a dark story without relying on a traditionally dark visual style.

Creators on Making Films With OiiOii AI

The winning creators described different ways OiiOii AI supported their filmmaking process, from visual experimentation and world-building to maintaining continuity across scenes and moving quickly from concept to execution.

Muhammad Ihsan Fadli, creator of BARZAKH: Every End Begins, said the process leaned entirely on OiiOii AI.

“OiiOii AI made this possible,” they said. “It allowed me to explore cinematic compositions, environments, characters, and surreal moments that would have been extremely difficult to create through traditional production. At the same time, working with AI required constant experimentation and iteration, from refining prompts and compositions to maintaining continuity and visual details throughout the film.”

Keskin, creator of Behind the Eyes, said working inside OiiOii AI’s single canvas kept the story connected from scene to scene.

“Creating the film with OiiOii felt very comfortable and intuitive,” they said. “Having everything inside a single canvas made it easy to create what I needed while keeping track of the entire storyline. Instead of constantly jumping between separate tools or losing sight of the narrative, I could develop the visuals while still seeing how each piece connected to the larger story.”

The team at SoengkhanStudio said the process was smooth from start to finish.

“Using OiiOii AI was an enjoyable and surprisingly smooth experience,” the team said. “The interface was intuitive, the generation process was fast, and it allowed us to experiment with multiple visual ideas efficiently. The tool helped us move quickly from concept to execution while keeping the creative process flexible.”

About OiiOii AI

OiiOii AI is the world’s first AI animation agent platform, built to democratize animation creation and put the power of filmmaking directly in creators’ hands. Founded in 2025, OiiOii enables a single creator to guide the entire animation production pipeline while keeping full creative control in human hands. By streamlining complex production workflows, OiiOii serves as a creative partner, helping filmmakers, studios, and independent creators bring high-quality animated stories to life more efficiently. OiiOii is on a mission of creative equality — to empower 100 million people by 2030 to create their own animations and games.

Learn more at • Instagram @oiioii_ai • YouTube @OiiOii_AI• X @OiiOii_AI .

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