Country
South Korea
Premiere
World
The film explores the intersection of history, memory, and future ethics through a unique fusion of storytelling and emerging technology. Inspired by forgotten chapters of the past, it reimagines human struggles and institutional failures while asking how we might design a more responsible future. The narrative connects historical events with speculative visions, inviting audiences to reflect on dignity, resilience, and the evolving relationship between humanity and technology.
Technically, the work is created through a hybrid production pipeline. Approximately 60–70% of the imagery was generated using AI, combined with traditional 3D modeling, digital compositing, and precise editing. AI was not employed as a replacement for creativity, but as a collaborator—expanding visual language and enabling experimental approaches that traditional methods alone could not achieve. Human artistic direction remained central throughout, guiding AI outputs toward a cohesive and emotionally resonant vision.
By blending emerging AI technologies with established CGI craft, the project embodies the spirit of innovation and convergence celebrated by the New Media Film Festival. It demonstrates how new tools can coexist with time-tested techniques to tell stories that are both deeply rooted in history and urgently relevant to the future.
The film ultimately asks: How can technology help us not only remember the past but also imagine better worlds ahead?
In 2045, the rise of AI beyond human intelligence has made human labor unnecessary, turning countless people into a surplus population. In search of survival, many desperately look for new forms of work. At that time, John Magnus, the CEO of Sunflower Corporation—a company producing future food made from sunflower seeds—announces large-scale job openings on his farms.
However, behind Magnus’s offer lies a hidden motive: to exploit people for his own greed.
One day, Logan, a 10-year-old boy, finds a Sunflower Company advertisement and excitedly tells his father about the opportunity. Filled with hope, Logan, his father, and many others board the bus bound for the Sunflower farms—believing they are heading toward a new beginning.
“For over two decades, I have trained young creators in 3D and digital art through vocational education.
Yet within me remained a quiet yearning — to express my view of the world through my own lens.
Cinema became the language I longed for, but the barriers of capital and system rarely allowed an individual voice to emerge freely.
The rise of AI technology cracked those walls, and through that narrow opening I found a ray of light.
Sunflowers marks my first step onto the international stage — a testament to an era where technology once again liberates human imagination.”