Daiko WEDO's Yuna Kikuchi Receives Special Jury Award in AI CM Division at WORLD AI FILM FESTIVAL 2026 in KYOTO

Daiko WEDO Co., Ltd. (President: Shinwa Daichi, Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo), a group company of Daiko Inc. (President: Yasuo Izumi, Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo), announced that Yuna Kikuchi received a Special Jury Award at the "WORLD AI FILM FESTIVAL 2026 in KYOTO (hereinafter, WAIFF 2026 KYOTO)".

**About WAIFF 2026 KYOTO**

The "WORLD AI FILM FESTIVAL (hereinafter, WAIFF)", the world's first and largest international film festival specializing in AI, which made a global impact when it was held in Nice, France in April 2025, was founded by Mr. Marco Landi, former President of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) Europe and Global Chief Operating Officer (COO). This innovative international film festival aims to "explore the intersection of film and artificial intelligence". The first event in April 2025 (Nice, France) saw an overwhelming submission of over 1,500 AI films from 53 countries and regions. More than 2,000 spectators and related parties gathered at the venue, creating a global sensation from its inaugural event.

Following this success, the second main event has been decided for Cannes, France in April 2026. The journey leading up to this is called "Road to WAIFF Cannes 2026", with qualifying film festivals held in four cities: Brazil (São Paulo), South Korea (Seoul), China (Wuxi), and Japan (Kyoto). WAIFF 2026 KYOTO is the Japanese leg of this competition, and only excellent works selected in each country are scheduled to be invited to the main event, "WAIFF Cannes 2026", held in Cannes, the holy land of cinema.

**Awardee Profile**

Yuna Kikuchi Copywriter/Planner at Daiko WEDO Born in Miyagi Prefecture in 2000. Joined Daiko WEDO in 2023. Assigned to Daiko SD Headquarters Creative Bureau from 2025. Her future dream is to open a noodle soup shop with a ticket vending machine system (but only two menu items) that serves hot soup. She initiated "Nantoka Research" (roughly "Somehow Research"), which defines unspoken true feelings/motivations/challenges that one has "noticed" or "experienced" but never verbalized as "nantoka" (somehow), and explores methods for accumulating and unearthing them. This research is being conducted as an in-house project activity at Daiko. Main award history: 2025 Metro Ad Creative Award.

**Awardee Comment**

"It was a first-time attempt, full of novelties like 'AI,' 'film festival,' and the 'first-ever CM division.' I didn't even know what approach to take, so for now, I just watched all the AI videos I could find in the world. My brain felt like it was melting.

Anyone can use it, and it can be incredibly visually striking. However, I feel that using AI, which excels in such versatility and creativity, actually makes it harder for people to genuinely be surprised or moved, due to feelings of 'Oh, it's just AI' or the uncanny valley phenomenon.

Amidst that, I racked my brain, pondering how to move people's hearts.

The awarded work, 'YUMEOCHI -Falling Nightmare-', is centered on the sensation that many people have experienced: 'I had a nightmare, woke up, and realized that too was a dream,' and everything else was finished simply.

No matter how much the times advance, and no matter how much new technology and content abound, I was once again reminded that unearthing hidden empathy and insights is the starting point for moving hearts.

To everyone who gave me this challenging opportunity, to everyone who collaborated in the production, to everyone who reviewed the plan, to everyone who gave me amazing connections, and to everyone who always supports me. Thank you very much.

Just when I was about to say many things, it turned into a text as if I had won the Grand Prix. But that's not the case."

**Award-winning Work** YUMEOCHI -Falling Nightmare- https://youtu.be/cN-hZMIAvlQ?si=ljALbVnYIuJRnTK3 © WORLD AI FILM FESTIVAL 2026 in KYOTO

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