CGV has announced the winners of its first-ever 'AI Film Contest' and will hold an awards ceremony on the 30th at the CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall SCREENX theater.
This competition targeted short films of 10 to 20 minutes in length, created using generative AI technology, under the themes of 'heroes' and 'villains' or 'free theme'. After a preliminary round, 15 films made it to the finals. The official jury, including director Eom Tae-hwa, writer Kim Jung-hyuk, science communicator Gwedo, and director Jung Chang-ik, along with about 7,000 votes from the online audience via the CGV mobile app and website, selected a total of 5 winners.
The grand prize was awarded to 'The Wrong Visitor' by Hyun Hae-ri. This film was praised for its philosophical exploration of recurring death and consciousness, presented through AI-generated imagery and a fairy-tale style, achieving a successful balance between technology and narrative.
The jury commented, "Using AI, the driest of tools, to handle intense symbols and existential themes in an experimental narrative was particularly impressive," and "The grotesqueness reminiscent of a bizarre picture book turned into a film was striking." They awarded high marks for both artistic completeness and the power of message delivery.
Grand prize winner Hyun Hae-ri shared, "While making this film, I thought that 'AI cinema' is not 'Film by AI' but 'Film with AI.' I want to take this AI-inclusive production environment as a new opportunity to share its possibilities with the audience."
Other winners include '0KB' by Kang Dae-hyung for the Best Excellence Award, 'Galaxy's Cat Delivery' by Kim Young-hyun and 'Pinocchio: Begins' by Ahn Ye-eun for the Excellence Awards, and 'Paper World' by Kim Yoon-gak for the CJ ENM Special Award. Details of the winning films can be found on the CGV mobile app and website.
CGV plans to specially screen a total of 9 'AI films', including the 5 winning films and 4 other finalists, this summer at CGV theaters.
Kim Jae-in, head of Content and Marketing at CGV, said, "The contest saw participation from more creators with high-quality and diverse works than expected. CGV will continue to present experimental works to diversify theater content, share reactions with audiences, and work with creators to ponder the future of the content industry."
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)