AI content studio Higgsfield is set to debut its animated short film "Kök Börü" at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles, marking its first release since the Cannes Marché du Film premiere of its AI-generated feature "Hell Grind" in May. The 15-minute film draws on Central Asian folklore, and its co-directors say they believe the story would struggle to secure backing from a traditional studio given its niche cultural focus, positioning AI production tools as a way to get overlooked stories made.

The film takes its title from a traditional Central Asian horseback game and follows a nomadic mother searching for a daughter lost to a wolf pack. It was co-directed by Shakhnazar Borboev and Amira Ömirjan, made in two weeks by a ten-person team including animators, screenwriters and sound staff, and used native Kazakh voice actors alongside a combination of Higgsfield's AI tools and Nvidia graphics. It follows a similar hybrid AI-human production approach recently announced by Utopai Studios for its film "The Most Serious Fart", and the Higgsfield team will host a panel at SIGGRAPH explaining the production pipeline.