Park Bo-young Wins Acting Grand Prize at Daejeon Special FX Festival as Netflix’s ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ Dominates DFX OTT Awards

The 7th Daejeon Special FX Festival, Korea’s only film festival dedicated to CG, VFX, SFX, AI and other screen technologies, took place over three days at Hotel ICC, Megabox Shinsegae and several independent and arthouse theaters in Daejeon. Its highlight program, the ‘DFX OTT Awards’, was held on the evening of November 28. There, Park Bo-young won the Grand Prize in acting for her performance in tvN’s ‘Unknown Seoul’, while Netflix’s highly buzzed drama ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ (Korean title: ‘폭싹 속았수다’) swept the Technical Grand Prize and Best Art Direction, emerging as the biggest winner of the night.

Positioned as an awards ceremony that recognizes OTT titles combining cutting-edge visual technology and strong performances, the DFX OTT Awards is divided into two main categories: acting (individual performers) and technical achievement (works). Hosted by actor Oh Ji-ho and announcer Gong Seo-young, the ceremony was held at Hotel ICC in Daejeon, bringing together nominees, VFX and post-production teams, local government officials and invited citizens. The atmosphere leaned more toward a professional industry event than a flashy TV awards show, with past winners such as Kim Dong-jun, Tae Won-seok, Kim Sun-bin and Lee Pil-mo returning as presenters.

Park Bo-young claimed the acting Grand Prize for her lead role in ‘Unknown Seoul’. The jury praised her ability to sustain emotional nuance and believable delivery within the drama’s time-bending premise, noting that her performance remained grounded even in scenes heavily reliant on special effects and complex staging. In her acceptance speech, Park said she was overwhelmed by the size of the honor, thanking the staff and fellow cast members for their work, and promised to repay the ‘weight’ of the award with even better performances in future projects. For an actress already known for multiple hit titles, this win signals a new milestone in the realm of effects-driven OTT storytelling.

On the technical side, ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ not only earned the Technical Grand Prize but also received the Best Art Direction award. According to judges and organizers, the series relied almost entirely on CG for its pivotal ocean sequences, using various 3D design programs and open-set SketchUp simulations to plan shots before tightly integrating on-set builds, VFX and special effects work. The result is a level of visual density comparable to feature films while still tailored for an OTT environment. Beyond its technical prowess, the show was commended for balancing spectacle with storytelling and performance, making it one of the standout recent Korean dramas where visual innovation and emotional engagement go hand in hand.

A broad range of acting and technical categories further illustrated how Korean dramas and films continue to expand across genres. In the acting field, Yang Dong-geun of ‘Squid Game 2’ and Park Ji-hoon of ‘Weak Hero 2’ shared the Best Actor award, Lee Jae-in of ‘High Five’ received Best Actress, and Bae Na-ra of ‘Your Taste’ took home the Excellence in Acting award. Park Jae-chan of ‘Check In Hanyang’ and Hyun Seung-hee of ‘Jeongnyeon’ were recognized with Global Star awards for their growing international buzz. On the technical side, the film ‘The Exorcist’ (퇴마록) earned the Jury’s Special Prize, ‘Harbin’ won for Special Effects, while ‘Newtopia’ and ‘Project Silence’ captured the Visual Effects awards for drama and film respectively, with more than 200 titles competing across all sections this year.

Since its inception, the Daejeon Special FX Festival has positioned itself as a hub where the city’s scientific and technological infrastructure meets Korea’s screen industries, using slogans such as ‘Feel the vision, into the fantasy senses’. Programs like the ‘DFX Screening’ strand for effects-focused works, the ‘DFX Tech Show’ for demonstrations and AI symposiums, and the ‘DFX Lounge’ for company booths and career networking create a space where industry professionals and the general public can experience the latest tools and content side by side. For viewers who usually follow Korean dramas through ratings and online buzz, the festival offers a chance to revisit titles like ‘Unknown Seoul’ and ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ from the perspective of visual craftsmanship and effects-driven storytelling.

[KStarLoud Deep Dive] The DFX OTT Awards can be read as a ‘craft-first’ lens on Korean dramas, where elements often reduced to throwaway praise like “great effects” or “beautiful art direction” are evaluated as central pillars. Park Bo-young’s Grand Prize suggests that even in time-bending, FX-heavy settings, performances that anchor emotional reality will be recognized on their own terms, giving confidence to creators who want to attempt bolder structures without sacrificing audience connection. Meanwhile, ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ taking both the Technical Grand Prize and Art Direction Award underscores Netflix Korea’s ambition to deliver feature-level visual design in a long-form series. Festivals like this may not drive mainstream buzz the way Baeksang or Blue Dragon do, but they quietly influence how budgets are allocated and how new projects are planned—if more titles are remembered specifically for their VFX and production design, producers gain stronger leverage to bring VFX supervisors, art directors and tech teams into the conversation from day one.