The 6th DAESANG E.T.F.F. (Eat & Travel Film Festival), the global university-student smartphone film festival hosted annually by DAESANG Group, came to a successful close in Budapest, Hungary, with a screening and awards ceremony held on 16 August (local time).
Collaborative content
Now in its sixth edition, DAESANG E.T.F.F. is a global cultural exchange programme built on ‘Respect’, the group’s core value, in which university students of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds travel together, collaborate, and produce short films on the theme of food. This year the festival expanded its host region from Asia to Europe for the first time, and participants came from 25 countries – the largest number in its history – further raising its standing as a global cultural exchange programme.
Budapest, Hungary, where a wide range of histories and cultures coexist, was chosen as the first European host city. As a leading city of Central Europe that has long stood at the crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures, it offered participants from around the world the chance to experience and exchange different cultures and to draw varied inspiration for their filmmaking.
Forty-eight students, selected through fierce competition from 25 countries across Asia, North America, Latin America and Europe, formed eight teams of six and travelled together throughout Budapest from 4 August to 16 August. Over roughly two weeks, the participants experienced local culture and cuisine and carried out the entire filmmaking process themselves – from scripting and shooting to editing and promotion – producing smartphone short films of under five minutes on the theme of food.
The finished films were unveiled at a screening held in Budapest on 16 August. To be enjoyed alongside the films, a tasting menu prepared with products from ‘Jongga’, DAESANG Group’s global kimchi brand, was served, including ▲Cold Kimchi Noodle Soup ▲Kimchi Pancake ▲Boiled Pork & KLimchi ▲Pork Belly Kimchi Roll ▲Kimchi Kimbap. By creating an opportunity to experience kimchi – the signature K-food winning fans worldwide – in many different forms, the event was staged as a festival where film and food came together, and drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.
One member of the audience at the screening said, “It was a special experience to taste kimchi dishes while watching films made by university students from all over the world,” adding, “The Prok Belly Kimchi Rool stood out in particular – the clean, mild flavour of the pork paired beautifully with the depth of the kimchi.”
The screening was followed by an awards ceremony. The Grand Prize was decided by combining the assessments of two expert judges – director Um Tae-hwa, who directed the film ‘Concrete Utopia’, and Professor Park Ji-hoon of the Seoul Institute of the Arts – with votes cast by the audience on site. Awards were also presented in a range of categories, including Best Film, Best Promotion, Best Actor and Best Team Activity.
The Grand Prize went to team ‘ONEderful’ for ‘Colors of Budapest’, which received prize money of KRW 10 million. Director Um Tae-hwa, who served as a judge, praised the film: “It stands out for its clever direction, capturing the fleeting moment of falling in love in vivid colour. The striking contrast between the green backdrop and the red rose is an outstanding visualisation of the characters’ emotions.” Shim Hee-jun (Korea University) of the winning team ‘ONEderful’ said, “We wanted to tell a warm story, through the themes of colour and love, about choosing to respect and understand one another rather than discriminate and hate.”
The award-winning films and the making-of footage documenting the participants’ production process will be released on the official ‘DAESANG Eat & Travel Film Festival’ YouTube channel.
Choi Sung-soo, CEO of Daesang Holdings, said,
“We have successfully completed the first edition of the festival held in Europe, and above all it was a meaningful occasion that reaffirmed the elevated standing of kimchi, seeing global consumers enjoy such a wide variety of kimchi dishes.”
He added, “We will continue to spare no support in helping young people around the world grow into global talents who carry the attitude of ‘Respect’.”
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