'The True-taste Show' gets go-ahead for screening

By Park Si-soo

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A court Wednesday rejected a broadcaster's injunction sought to ban the screening of a controversial documentary that accused TV producers of receiving payments from restaurants owners in exchange for their establishments featuring on foodie shows.

With the ruling, the 70-minute movie "The The True-taste Show" started screening at 10 theaters from Tuesday.

Judge Sung Ji-yong at the Seoul Southern District Court said the showing is justifiable since the movie was produced to protect the "public interest", rejecting the injunction filed by MBC TV which claimed that the movie "tarnishes the company's image by promoting an untrue story".

The judge said, "It's acknowledged that the movie was produced to uphold the public interest by disclosing the dark side of food shows".

In order to make the documentary, the film's director, Kim Jae-hwan, a former MBC producer, opened a restaurant of his own and recorded his attempts to be featured on popular food programs.

Some producers at MBC and SBS TV are seen in the movie receiving about 10 million won ($9,000) from Kim. In return for that, Kim's restaurant appeared on two popular shows earlier this year - "Find! Delicious TV" on MBC and "Live Show Today" on SBS.