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| Actor Song Kang-ho in the poster for "Parasite" / Korea Times file |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
The film "Parasite" (2019) was honored with the Best Picture Award, while actor Song Kang-ho won the Grand Prize, at the 40th Korea Gold Awards Festival held in Seoul, Thursday.
The 40th edition of the festival was originally scheduled to take place in February of last year, but was postponed over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The annual event is organized by the Korean Society of Cinematographers, who determines the winners based on their technical and creative talent.
Actors Cho Jin-woong and Lee Ha-nee grabbed the trophies for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, for their roles in "Black Money" (2019). Chung Ji-young, who helmed the white-collar crime film, also took home the Best Director Award.
"Black Money" is based on a real story in which a Korean bank was sold to a U.S. private equity fund for a suspiciously low price and then sold later for a huge profit.
"As I'm looking at the award winners, I feel tremendous weight on my shoulders. Korean films support beautiful justice. I will stand in support of bringing attention to such matters," Cho said after receiving the award.
Lee thanked the crew in her acceptance speech. "I'd like to thank all the production staff who have worked hard to put this film out in the world. At times like this, I've been thinking a lot about what I can do as an actor. I'll try to turn adversity into opportunity (during the pandemic)," she said.
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| Actors Cho Jin-woong, left, and La Ha-nee pose with their trophies after winning the Best Actor and Best Actress Awards, respectively, at the 40th Korea Gold Awards Festival held in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Saram Entertainment |
The Best Supporting Actor and Actress Awards went to Lee Kwang-soo, who played a swimming prodigy with the mental age of a 5-year-old, in "Inseparable Bros" (2019), and Kim Mi-kyung, who played Ji-young's mother ― a traditional mother figure who gave up on her rights to be educated for the sake of her brothers ― in "Kim Ji-young: Born in 1982."
"The Divine Fury" actor Woo Do-hwan and "The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil" actor Kim Sung-kyu won the Best New Actor Awards.
Kim So-hye, who played Yoon-hee's daughter, Sae-bom, in the queer film, "Moonlit Winter," Choi Mi-kyo from the comedy drama, "Murphy's Law and Sally's Law," and Yoon Hye-ri, who starred as a high school student named Ye-jin, who develops feelings for a cafe owner in the queer film, "Between the Seasons," won the Best New Actress Awards.
The Cinematographers' Choice Popularity Awards went to actors Kim Hong-pa from "Juror 8" and Lim Yoon-a from "Exit."
"This award is meaningful because it was decided by cinematographers. I will work harder to present diverse work in the future," Lim said. The singer-actor has wrapped up shooting "Miracle," and is currently filming "Confidential Assignment 2," alongside Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae-jin.
