Actor Song Kang-ho wins Chunsa award

Actor Song Kang-ho and actress Shim Eun-kyung won the best actor and actress awards at the 2014 Chunsa Film Festival at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Wednesday.

Song won the award for his appearance in the 2013 film "The Attorney," in which he played Song Woo-seok, a lawyer who comes to care for the civil liberties of an activist high-school student.

The film was said to have been inspired by the early life of late President Roh Moo-hyun and a case in 1981 when Busan-based students, teachers and workers were convicted on false charges of violating the National Security Law.

Shim was acknowledged for her appearance in the 2013 film "Miss Granny," in which she played the younger Na Moon-hee, the veteran actress who took on the role of a woman in her 70s who finds herself in the body of her 20-year-old self after having her picture taken.

"This is a very generous award," Song said upon receiving the award. "I will do my best not to disappoint in any future productions."

Shim expressed the burden she felt of having won such a considerable award in front of so many senior actors and actresses she admires.

Yang Woo-seok, director of "The Attorney," won the best rookie director award, and the writers of "Miss Granny" won the best screenplay award.

The Chunsa Film Festival was established in 1990 in memory of actor and film director Na Woon-gyu, best known for his film "Arirang."

The event, formerly known as the Chunsa Art Film Festival, resumed this year after having been suspended in 2010.