Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF)’s fourth Premiere Star Summit event selected Su Ae (Sunny) as the female Rising Star and HA Jung-woo (The Chaser) received the male Rising Star award. Seven Days director WON Shin-yun took home the Rising Star award in the director category.

CHOUNG Kyung-ho won the best actor nod for Sunny. CHUNG Yeo-won (Two Faces of My Girlfriend) picked up the best actress award in the presence of major stars, including KIM Jee-woon, LEE Byung-hun, and JUNG Woo-sung, and international stars Li Xioalu and Fan Wing.

HA cemented his name internationally through highly praised independent films which were selected throughout the world by film festivals. His breakthrough was The Unforgiven and he topped the box office this year with the sleeper hit The Chaser, another film coveted by global film festivals.

Su Ae played LEE Byung-hun’s character’s love interest in Once in a Summer. In Sunny she transforms from a modest quiet young woman into a singer performing in front of soldiers during the Vietnam War while being in search of her missing-in-action husband.

The Rising Star winners were selected through a combination of popular votes and assessments of professionals. Experts of the Korean film industry selected through a poll while audiences were able to cast their vote online.

Yi Ch’ang-ho (KOFIC)