KBS drama special 'Siren' wins grand prize at Stockholm Film & Television Festival

A poster for “Siren,” an episode of KBS Drama Special / Courtesy of KBS

By Lee Gyu-lee

“Siren,” an episode of the KBS anthology series, KBS Drama Special, has notched a global accolade at this year's Stockholm Film & Television Festival.

The broadcaster announced Wednesday that the 80-minute cinematic episode won Best Feature Film at the international festival, held online Saturday (local time). Stockholm Film & Television Festival is an annual online festival that was founded in 2020 to promote creative filmmaking and storytelling by filmmakers around the world.

“I've mostly directed TV series until now, so I'm extremely happy to win an award with the first feature film I made. I would like to share this honor with our production staff and cast members who have done their best even amid the tough situation with the pandemic and the low budget,” the film's director Ahn Jun-yong said in the broadcaster's release.

“The series' directors at KBS have made efforts to make well-made, globally acclaimed content. So we ask for your continuous support.”

The sci-fi, thriller, which premiered at the Gangneung International Film Festival last October before airing in November, follows a power-hungry man, Choi Tae-seung (Choi Jin-hyuk), who works at a noise pollution treatment center called, “Nautic Wave.” The company takes the noise from its clients and eliminates it at its facility using a device the company developed.

One day, the facility's manager commits suicide amid compensation negotiations with the residents of the town where the facility is located. Tae-seung takes the manager's position. But as he tries to carry on the negotiations, he suspects there's more to the suicide, which leads him to discover a dark corporate conspiracy.