YOUN Yuh-jung Earns JURY GRAND PRIZE from APSAs

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NEWS & REPORTS

YOUN Yuh-jung Earns JURY GRAND PRIZE from APSAs

Dec 01, 2016

Writer by Pierce Conran
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THE WORLD OF US, SEOUL STATION Triumph in Brisbane

2016 was a good year for Korean cinema at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards with three separate awards going to Korean film talent. Legendary star YOUN Yuh-jung, earned the Jury Grand Prize for her leading turn in E J-yong’s The Bacchus Lady, in which she plays an elderly prostitute who becomes an angel of death for her senior clients when she begins to euthanize them.

The Bacchus Lady kicked off its run in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival before going on a very strong festival run which included stops at the Munich, Vancouver, BFI London and Hong Kong International Film Festivals. YOUN also picked up the Best Actress prize from the Fantasia International Film Festival. Commenting on her performance, APSA International Jury member KIM Dong-ho stated “The role was very difficult, and her performance was outstanding.”

Also awarded at the 10th APSAs were YOON Ga-eun’s debut feature The World of Us, another Berlinale premiere (in the Generations program), which earned the Best Youth Feature Film award, and YEON Sang-ho’s TRAIN TO BUSAN prequel Seoul Station, which earned the Best Animated Featured Film prize.

Regarding The World of Us, APSA Youth, Animation & Documentary International Jury chair Chris Fujiwara mentioned “We were very struck by the film because it is so rare to see films about a group of girls of primary school age. The film depicted the relationships between these girls, their longing to be accepted and their desire to have social prestige. All of these things were really beautifully portrayed in this film and it was a very, very moving film about the longing for friendship and acceptance.”

Concerning Seoul Station, Fujiwara stated “We were struck most of all by the film’s social and political critique which is directed at the authoritarian function of the police and the authority structure of the patriarchal family. We thought the film was quite successful in making this critique through the zombie narrative as a vehicle, and the animation was very skillfully done.”

Meanwhile, PARK Joo-young’s project Morning Star was one of four selected for the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.

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