The 49th Grand Bell Awards Ceremony opened on the 30th of October at the KBS Hall in Yoido. Masquerade set a record by getting 15 awards, surpassing the previous record of 10 set by The King and the Clown. Stiff competition was expected beforehand, with 8 films that went past the 4 million mark this year and two over 10 million, not to mention a film winning the Golden Lion in Venice. Out of the 22 categories, Masquerade took 70% of the awards by taking home 15.

 

Masquerade took Best Picture as well as Best Actor and the Toyota Popularity Award for LEE Byeong-hun, Best Director for CHOO Chang-min, Best Script (Hwang Jo-yun), KIM Ki-duk's Pieta took just two, including the Special Jury’s Award and Best Actress for JO Min-su. The Thieves which drew 13 million at the box office took just one, the Best Supporting Actress Award for KIM Hae-sook.

 

The method of selecting a film for each of the awards has changed this year, raising the analysis that this change has contributed to Masquerade winning 15 awards. Until last year, jury members saw all of the candidate films after which they chose the best picture but from this year, they saw each film and wrote down the score for that particular film.

 

Considering the fact that there were many films drawing much interest this year, such as Pieta, The Thieves, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, Architecture 101, Unbowed as well as Silenced, there was criticism that one single film ended up taking too many awards.

Meanwhile, Masquerade brought 49,290 on 30th October, bringing the total to 11,042,033 after release.

 
List of Award Recipients at the 49th Grand Bell Awards

   

Best Picture: Masquerade
Best Director: CHOO Chang Min, Masquerade
Best Actor: LEE Byeong-hun, Masquerade
Best Actress: JO Min-su, Masquerade

Best Supporting Actor: RYU Seung-ryong, Masquerade
Best Supporting Actress: KIM Hae-sook, The Thieves
Best Male Newcomer: KIM Seung-gyun My Neighbor
Best Female Newcomer: KIM Go-eun, Eungyo
Best Short Film: CHO Ji-yeon, Woman
Special Jury's Award: KIM Ki-duk, Pieta
Best Photography: LEE Tae-woon, Masquerade
Best Lighting: OH Seung-cheul, Masquerade
Best Editing: NAM Na-young, Masquerade
Best Music: Mogg KIM Jun-seong, Masquerade
Best Planning and Co-ordination: IM Sang-jin, Masquerade
Best Script: HWANG Jo-yun, Masquerade
Best Art Design: Oh Heung-suk, Masquerade
Best Cinematography Technology: JEONG Jae-hun, Masquerade
Best Music Technology: LEE Sang-jun, Masquerade
Best Costume: Kwon Yu-jin and IM Seung-hee, Masquerade
Toyota Popularity Award: LEE Byeong-heon, Masquerade