News
Korean Films Nab 5 Awards from Sitges
Features, Animations & Docs Triumph at Catalan Film Jubilee
The largest genre film event in Europe, the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia brought its 47th edition to a close on Saturday, October 11th and five Korean films were among this year’s awards winners.
In the New Visions categories, Korean works took home both the best fiction and non-fiction prizes. The winners were LEE Su-jin’s Han Gong-ju, adding yet another trophy to its impressive haul, which already includes top honors at the Marrakech, Rotterdam and Fribourg International Film Festivals, and JUNG Yoon-suk’s documentary Non Fiction Diary, which previously earned the NETPAC award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Both films debuted at last year’s Busan International Film Festival.
Taking the top award in the Focus Asia category was the 3D omnibus Mad Sad Bad. The film, which debuted at the Jeonju International Film Festival and was produced by the Korean Academy of Film Arts, features works by directors RYOO Seung-wan, HAN Ji-seung and KIM Tae-yong. Picking up Focus Asia’s Special Mention accolade was Hwayi: A Monster Boy, the long-awaited sophomore work of Save the Green Planet (2003) director JANG Joon-hwan.
Meanwhile, The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow was triumphant in the Anima’t section. JANG Hyung-yun’s film was the second Korean work to pick up Sitges’ top animation prize in a row, following last year’s win for YEON Sang-ho’s The Fake.
A total of 15 features and two shorts from the peninsula screened in the Catalan film event this year. The dates for Sitges’ 47th edition were October 2-11.
