French chamber celebrates with a legendary director
Published: 14 Dec. 2009, 20:29
Hundreds of guests enjoy the atmosphere of Deauville, the French resort town on the Normandy coast, at a year-end gala hosted by the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Dec. 12. [Newsis]
The chamber’s annual year-end gala, the first of which was organized in 1990, is part of the long history of diplomatic and cultural relations between Korea and France.
“Entertaining Korean business executives in the French style is the best way to develop connections between French and Korean companies and for our chamber to act as a genuine bridge between these two communities,” Philippe Li, the president of FKCCI, said.
The event is well known in the Korean and French business communities here for its elegant setting and special themes.
As with previous editions, this year’s event recreated the atmosphere of a specific location in France. For example, guests were invited to take a walk in a French-style garden in 2006, when the theme was “Jardin a la francaise,” and to explore the heart of nocturnal Paris in 2007, under the theme “Paris-Seoul, Riverside Mood.” Last year, guests were invited to spend a “Night in Provence.”
This year, the gala took guests to the French city of Deauville. The event was named “Deauville: Un homme et une femme,” after the 1966 Cannes Palme d’Or award-winning movie by French director Claude Lelouch,
A fountain, a boardwalk and other decorations helped to transform the ballroom into a sparkling seaside retreat. A gourmet dinner featuring French wine and champagne was served to enlighten the festive mood.
The highlight of the evening was a concert with music by French composer and musician Christian Gaubert and his wife, singer Karine Michel. A small chamber ensemble featuring the two musicians played the theme song to “Un homme et une femme,” a new song composed by the couple especially for the gala titled “Comme dans un film de Claude Lelouch,” and other songs.
Among the notable guests at the event were Lelouch; Deauville Mayor Philippe Augier; French Ambassador to Korea Elisabeth Laurin; Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sohn Kyung-shik; and Korea Foundation President Yim Sung-joon.
“This Gala has been a great opportunity to build strong ties between Deauville and Seoul. It was very important to us to introduce Deauville to the Korean economic community as a city with many things to offer,” Deauville Mayor Augier said.
Deauville, a renowned French resort town on the Normandy coast, is also famous for hosting since 1999 the biggest Asian film festival in Europe. The festival has helped introduce Korean cinema and culture to France, and by extension to Europe, by featuring Korean films by directors such as Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk and Lee Chang-dong. At this year’s festival in March, the Korean independent movie “Breathless” by director Yang Ik-june was awarded the Grand Prix.
In 2000, the film festival signed a cultural exchange agreement with the Pusan International Film Festival, the largest film event in Korea, and the two festivals will expand their collaboration in the future.
Meanwhile, the FKCCI and the French Cultural Center are holding a retrospective on director Claude Lelouch at the Dongsoong Art Center starting today and continuing on Tuesdays this month. The director’s 1993 movie “Tout ca .?.?. pour ca! ” will be screened tonight, followed by a screening of his 1973 movie “La bonne annee” on Dec. 22 and the 2007 film “Roman de gare” on Dec. 29.
*The screenings take place at 8:20 p.m. every Tuesday evening and admission costs 7,000 won ($6.05). For more information, contact Dongsoong Art Center at (02) 766-3390.
By Park Sun-young [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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