The First Korean SF Film, Competing with DUNE by Denis Villeneuve

Director Jo Sunghee's Space Sweepers, praised as the first Korean SF blockbuster, has been nominated for the Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards, the two major science and literature awards in the U.S. Space Sweepers is the first Korean film to be nominated for the prestigious SF literary awards in the U.S. at the same time. 

According to the announcement by the Hugo Awards on its official website on the 7th (U.S. time), Space Sweepers has been nominated for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form among the ‘Hugo Awards of the Year.’ The other nominees in the same category are DUNE by Denis Villeneuve, The Green Knight by David Lowery, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings by Destin Cretton, and Disney’s Encanto by Byron Howard.

The Hugo Awards is an annual SF literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, which was created to commemorate Hugo Gernsback, the father of American SF. The award has been held every year since 1955.

Also, Space Sweepers has been selected as a candidate for the Nebula Awards, one of the two major SF literary awards in the U.S. The Nebula Awards started in 1966 with the awards presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). At the Nebula Awards, Space Sweepers has been nominated for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. The other nominees in the same category with Space Sweepers include famous Hollywood films and series such as Encanto, The Green Knight, Loki Season 1, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wanda Vision, and What We Do in the Shadow: Season 3.

Space Sweepers is a story about the space scavengers of ‘Victory,’ a spacecraft that cleans up trash in space against the backdrop of the 2092 future. After discovering a human-type robot, the crew jumps into a dangerous deal. Director Jo Sunghee completed the solid space storytelling by building the worldview of ‘Victory’ for 10 years and was praised for implementing realistic space actions with the help of more than 1,000 VFX (Visual Effects) experts.

The Nebula Awards ceremony will be held on May 21, while the Hugo Awards ceremony will be held on September 4. Among the famous Hollywood SF movies and series, attention is focused on whether Space Sweepers, the first Korean SF blockbuster, will win the awards or not.