Daesang Group Successfully Concludes 2nd E.T. Film Festival... A Platform for Cultural Exchange Among 3 Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The awards ceremony for the 2nd E.T. (Eat & Travel) Film Festival, hosted by Daesang Group, was held on the 20th at Seoul Theater. Attended by representatives from Daesang, Daesang Holdings, Sangam Communications, and all participants of the E.T. Film Festival, the ‘Polychrome’ team, who produced ‘HAVE YOU EATEN,’ won the top honor.

The ‘E.T. Film Festival’ is a cross-cultural program organized by Daesang Group since 2018 in the form of a ‘food film festival.’ It is a cultural exchange activity where university students from Korea and various countries around the world create short films based on culture and food, traveling between each other’s countries. This year, university students from Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam participated under the theme of ‘Health and Food,’ showcasing their passion and talent.

For this film festival, a total of 270 university students from Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam applied over a month from November 4 to December 6. Applications were accepted by uploading a one-minute self-introduction video on their personal YouTube accounts and sharing the link on the application form. After the final screening, 48 students were selected: 24 from Korea, 12 from Indonesia, and 12 from Vietnam. They formed eight teams of six members each, either three from Korea and three from Vietnam or three from Korea and three from Indonesia, to plan and produce films.

Daesang Group conducted a two-week pre-orientation and training to help students from the two distant countries understand each other’s culture and religion without cultural clashes and to maximize their creativity independently. Additionally, through real-time video conferences, several pre-meetings were held between Korean-Indonesian and Korean-Vietnamese students to assist with filming plans and scriptwriting. Daesang Group fully covered all expenses, including round-trip airfare between Vietnam (Hanoi) or Indonesia (Jakarta), local accommodation, meals, and transportation for two weeks.

The event began with a greeting from Kwon Yong-seok, Head of Public Relations at Daesang, followed by stage greetings from the eight teams, film screenings, judges’ comments, and the awards ceremony.

Awards were given in five categories including the grand prize, best editing, best acting, best idea, and best screenplay. The judging panel included director Lee Sang-geun, who won the Best New Director award at the 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards for the film Exit, and director Jang Yoo-jin, who received a short film award for Milk, adding professionalism and fairness to the evaluation.

The Polychrome team members who won the grand prize?Jo Hyun-seo, Kim Yeon-su, Lee Ji-in, Anh Han Hong, Quang Pham Minh, and Linh Tran Ngoc?told a story in a drama format about a busy university student who rediscovers the importance of family through Korean and Vietnamese food.

Director Lee Ji-in said, “Even though none of us majored in film, I pushed the team hard to really make it like a movie,” and added, “I feel very sorry for the team members who must have had a hard time, and I am very happy to have achieved good results together with them.”

Executive Director Kwon said, “Following last year, we held this event again to create a platform for communication and cultural development based on K-food for young people around the world who enjoy and love Korean Wave,” and added, “I hope many university students participate in the festival to experience and understand various cultures and grow into global talents.”

Daesang Group plans to expand the film festival’s scope beyond Asia to countries worldwide and establish it as a cultural exchange festival for Korean and global university students through diverse themes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.