Official selection
A Message for the Butterfly
Credited as “Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz”
- 2026 · AI Entertainment Conference
- Runtime 8:08
A Message for the Butterfly is a 8-minute AI film by Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz, in the official selection of the 2026 AI Entertainment Conference.
- Friday, Sept 18
- Auditorium 1
- 7:30 – 9:15 p.m.
- about 8:30 p.m.
The artists
Zuxin Hou
Director
A Beijing-born filmmaker, Zuxin Hou directed The Italian Recipe, Anywhere But Here and My Dad's a Rocker before co-directing A Message for the Butterfly with Mark Wachholz in the Shanghai International Film Festival's AI Backlot programme. The short, a meditation on memory and identity built around Zhuangzi's butterfly dream, won the programme's Honor for Industrial Exploration.
View profile
Mark Wachholz
Writer · AI filmmaker
Born and raised in Berlin, Mark Wachholz wrote novels, video games and television for more than twenty years before turning to AI film in 2023. His work looks at how stories and systems shape history, culture and identity, and in 2026 he was a top-12 finalist for the $1M AI Film Award from 1BFS and Google Gemini.
View profile
Friday, Sept 18 · Auditorium 1 · 7:30 – 9:15 p.m.
Screened alongside
Its whole block, in the order it ran.
Tsunami Surf
Hideharu Ueki
WinnerThe Last Pip
Tunc Akyuz
Make a Wish
Hakan Kemixiz
Before Me
Andrew Boer, Jessica Boer
- WinnerLUMINA Catalog
Stonewall, The Making of
Talya Lotan
The Bothy
Andrew Shaw
SPLAT
Andrew Shaw
- Winner
Field Notes
Arielko
Our Everything
Vlad Khodakovsky
WinnerHold Your Breath
Alexandre Tissier
- Winner
Waking Up Dead
Niko Bagratuni
Memento Mori
Mike Bennion
- WinnerLUMINA Catalog
Quirky Symphonies Vol 1: A Featherly Heist
Sebastiano Vitale
- This film
A Message for the Butterfly
Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz
- 2026Query
Query
Uncredited
A Face Only a Mother Could Love
Robert Gaudette
WinnerShining Yellow
Shana Nielsen
Railbound
Jonathan Perry
Same artist
More from Zuxin Hou, Mark Wachholz
2026 AI Entertainment Conference
More from 2026
- LUMINA Catalog
Altered State
Melody Bossan, Dina Lockamy
An Impossible Life: The Unseen Journey of a Sea Turtle
Chris M Scott
An Unsent Letter of Apology
Simon David Wilkinson
Baby Carriage
Aisha Selime Kundakçı
Be an Adult
Devang Nandkishor Shah
Belle Epoque
Piergiorgio Montrucchio
Between Two Breaths
Manuel Vittorio Ottoboni
Blue Buddha
Syam Manohar
Blurred Horizon – Echo Chamber
Eike Swoboda
Boss Level
Robin Warren
Broccoligeddon 2: Glazed & Confused
Rosa Aranzazu Lykiardopoulos
Burn the Nights
Çağrı Erdoğdu
By Means Unknown
Luc Leclerc
Calling 2
Uncredited
Changing (NOW)
Melita Radočaj
Christina the Astonishing
Alex Lang
Closed Waters
Sharon Ritossa
Crystal Sovereigns: Gaia The Earth Sovereign
Jeff Zavala
D'ombre et de lumière
Fabien Loïacono
Dirty Soda
Emi Davidson
Dominant
Nik Kleverov
Don't Die
Lluis Mundet
Don't Forget About Me
Brando Corcino
Down In Mexico
Isi Sarfati
- 107See them all