[Digital Daily] CGV CEO Jeong Jong-min: “The quality of AI films is astonishing; we will keep screening them”

SEOUL, May 30 — “The number of entries, their polish, and the stories they tell all surpassed our expectations,” CGV CEO Jeong Jong-min said at the AI Film Contest awards ceremony held on May 30 at the SCREENX auditorium in CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall.

CGV, the first theater chain to host an AI film contest, announced the results and screened the five prize-winning works. The contest accepted 10- to 20-minute films made with generative AI under either the “Hero/Villain” theme or a free theme. Winners were chosen by a jury—Director Eom Tae-hwa, Writer Kim Jung-hyuk, science communicator Gwedo, and Director Jung Chang-ik—combined with online voting (about 7,000 participants via the CGV app and website). Awards were the Grand Prize, Best Picture, two Excellence Awards, and the CJ ENM Special Prize.

The Grand Prize went to Harry Hyun’s The Wrong Visitor (11 min 36 sec), which depicts a wolf chronicling the final moments of beings disappearing beyond a red door until a lamb in human form appears. The jury praised its AI-generated visuals and fairy-tale style approach to recurring death and consciousness. Gwedo called it “an experimental narrative that handles powerful symbolism and ontology with the driest tool, AI,” while Kim Jung-hyuk noted its “grotesque beauty reminiscent of a bizarre picture book.”

Accepting the award, Hyun said AI lets creators reach audiences faster and lowers barriers for newcomers. “AI turns concepts into content that can reach cinemas quickly—a blessing in today’s market,” he said. “I hope AI helps emerging creators knock on the screen.”

Other awards: 0KB (Best Picture, director Kang Dae-hyeong); Galactic Cat Delivery (Excellence Award, Kim Young-hyun); Pinocchio: Begins (Excellence Award, An Ye-eun); and Paper World (CJ ENM Special Prize, Kim Yoon-gak).

Director Kang remarked that watching 0KB a month after completion revealed many flaws, showing “how fast AI is advancing day by day.”

CGV will present a special summer program with these five winners plus four finalists, totaling nine AI films, and plans to keep exhibiting AI-related content. CEO Jeong added, “Starting with this contest, we will continue to showcase AI works. Thank you to everyone who submitted.”

© Chae Seong-o, Digital Daily (cs86@ddaily.co.kr)