Feinaki GIF 2025 Key Visual by Yiyang Sun
Completed with the assistance of Dreamina AI
Illusion Fabrication Lab
GIF Competition
Calling for Submissions!
Submission period: July 31 - August 31, 2025
As AI inevitably enters the field of animation creation, animators' attitudes have formed a distinct spectrum: some see it as a key to liberating productivity, while others worry about the dilution of human authorship by algorithms.
How should we coexist with AI? How can we harness this powerful yet controversial partner?
Today, Feinaki Beijing Animation Week will join forces with Dreamina AI to launch a social experiment.
We invite animators to create GIFs on the theme of "Illusion". Participants may choose to use either "AI creation tools" or "non-AI creation tools" for their work, and must truthfully disclose their creative process and tools used.
The preliminary juries will select 20 entries from each category (AI and non-AI) to advance to the finals. Ultimately, the audience vote and the GIF competition's final juries will select one winner for the Feinaki Best GIF Award.
Let’s look forward to this year’s winner!
How does AI create animation? Before asking this question, perhaps we need to first reconsider: what is animation?
Animation is a kind of “illusion” created by human hands. Compared to the time sequences captured by cameras in live-action films, animation appears far more organic and filled with animism. Yet, from another perspective, the actors in live-action illusions are living humans, while the characters in animation are non-human. In this sense, animation can also seem highly mechanical.
As an animation creator, one might sometimes feel like a pure machine — and the animation process itself like a machine creating another machine: the latter being a libido machine that produces the illusion of life. However, when we use AI — an even purer machine — to generate these illusions, can we still tell which illusions are hand-made, which are camera-shot, and which are AI-generated? Or more importantly, does that distinction still matter?
Reflecting on these questions holds great significance — not only for animators, but also for the animation industry, education, and beyond. For this year’s Feinaki GIF Competition, we’ve chosen “Illusion” as the theme. Together with Dreamina AI, we invite you to participate in a social experiment through the act of animation-making — to explore the similarities and differences between the illusions of animation, film, and AI, and to examine the ultimate meaning of image creation in the era of artificial intelligence.
— Wei Shilei, Academic Director of Feinaki Beijing Animation Week
Submission Regulations
Submission Theme
illusion
Competition Schedule
July 31–August 31: Submission period
September 1–September 10: Preliminary selection
September 10–September 30: Notification of shortlisted entries
October 1–November 15: Final selection by Feinaki Invited International Final Juries
November 1–November 15: Online public voting
November 17: Announcement of the Feinaki Best GIF Award (Feinaki Animation Week Awards Ceremony)
Awards
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7th Feinaki GIF Competition Shortlist
AI Creation Tools Category: 20 entries
Non-AI Creation Tools Category: 20 entries
Selected by the Feinaki GIF Competition Preliminary Juries. Shortlisted creators will receive an official certificate from Feinaki Beijing Animation Week and 10,000 Dreamina AI points.
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7th Feinaki Best GIF Award: 1 winner
Selected jointly by online public voting (50% weight) and the Feinaki GIF Competition Final Juries (50% weight). The winner will receive an official trophy, certificate from Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, and 30,000 Dreamina AI points.
Selection Process
- The preliminary juries of the Feinaki GIF Competition consist of members from the Feinaki Beijing Animation Week curatorial team. The selection principle is based on criteria such as concept, visual aesthetic, animated performance, and innovation.
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The final juries consist of internationally recognized experts specially invited by Feinaki Beijing Animation Week. The juries will start evaluating after the shortlisted results are confirmed, and the lineup of the jury members will be announced on a later date.
- The shortlisted results will be published on the official platforms of Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, followed by an online public exhibition and audience voting.
Submission Method
Please submit your work and materials in accordance with the requirements to gif@feinaki.com (upload files via cloud storage links and ensure the links remain accessible until September 30).
Each individual/group may submit up to 5 entries, which should all be included in a single email.
A system reply confirms successful submission. If no reply within 2 hours, please contact us.
Technical Requirements
- GIF (for competition)
Custom aspect ratio (max. 800px on any side; square recommended).
≤150 frames; ≤5MB file size.
- MP4 (for display)
Looped version of GIF (≤1 min, optional audio; audio not judged).
Match GIF’s aspect ratio; no size limit.
* Please submit both formats.
Submission Materials
- Tool category (select one)
a. AI creation tools
b. Non-AI creation tools
* Please select the primary tool used.
- Brief description of the creative process/tools (for juries reference only).
- Work & creator info
a. Title
b. Creator’s Name
c. Creator’s Location (country/city)
d. Synopsis (≤50 words)
e. Biography (≤50 words; optional)
- Creator’s social media (optional)
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Contact details (for notification only)
Copyright & Display
- Entries must be original works created by the submitter, and the submitter must hold full copyright to the work.
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Participants grant Feinaki Beijing Animation Week the right to display and disseminate all submitted work and materials online. For AI-created works, participants grant Dreamina AI the right to display and disseminate the submitted work online.
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During the event, submitted work may be featured in an online showcase on Feinaki Beijing Animation Week’s official social media platforms.
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Shortlisted works will be exhibited on-site at Feinaki Beijing Animation Week and its associated events.
Important Notes
- Participants must ensure that they have legal rights to all elements of their submitted content.
- Submitted works must not be plagiarized and must not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of any third party. When using AI tools for creation, direct copying of others' creative descriptions is strictly prohibited. The content of submitted works must not violate relevant national laws and regulations or contravene public order and good customs. If any of the above situations occur, the competition organisers reserve the right to revoke the work's eligibility for display, participation, and award consideration, and retain the right to pursue relevant legal responsibilities.
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Minors must read the competition rules carefully under the supervision of their guardians and obtain their guardians' consent before participating.
- After the preliminary selection, we will contact the entrants via WeChat or Email. Please ensure that your contact information is up to date. Upon receiving the official shortlist notification, entrants are required to submit supporting materials that verify the originality of the content and the rationale for selecting the tool category (AI/non-AI). Acceptable documentation includes but is not limited to: screenshots of the creation tool backend, source material images, and for works created using AI tools, submission of the generation process, workflow screenshots. If the required materials cannot be submitted, the competition organisers reserve the right to revoke the work's shortlisting eligibility.
- The Dreamina AI points rewards are non-transferable. Dreamina AI points will be distributed within 14 working days after the 7th Feinaki Beijing Animation Week. Points are valid for one year and cannot be redeemed for cash. Points that remain unused after the expiration date, or for which no account is provided for distribution, will be deemed as voluntarily forfeited.
Feinaki Beijing Animation Week Official AI Creation Partner
Dreamina AI is an all-in-one AI creative suite for all your artistic work. Powered by GenAI technology, Dreamina AI transforms simple prompts into stunning high-quality images and videos. Acting as the "camera of the imaginative world", it captures creativity, records ideas, and empowers anyone to bring their vision to life effortlessly.