Forgot password

New Talent Prize for LEE Yong-seung
  Following its recent Asian New Talent Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the indie drama 10 Minutes has bagged another accolade at the Taipei Film Festival. Director LEE Yong-seung was given the Grand Prize in the International  New Talent Competition.

 

Following its debut at the Busan International Film Festival last October, where it picked up the FIPRESCI and KNN Movie Awards, 10 Minutes has been warmly received on the festival circuit, starting with its international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. The film, which deals with Korea’s harsh work environment in a straightforward but blistering fashion, also earned the Cyclo d’Or at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France.

 

Judges in Taipei, which included film festival consultant Paolo Bertolin, commented the film in a statement for "a masterful control of the cinematic language, in leading the audience into the maddening spiral of an everyday inferno.” Further adding that by "Relying on the naturalistic, yet subtle acting from a remarkable cast, the director exposes the behavior, practices and interaction of individuals trapped in a stifling microcosm."

 

Among a dozen titles, LEE’s film, which is his debut, picked up the trophy and a cash prize worth USD 20,000. The Taipei Film Festival, which concluded its 10th edition this year, opened its doors on June 27th and will run all the way to July 19th. The only other Korean film playing in Taiwan this year was Three Charmed Lives, a pan-Asian omnibus commissioned by the Hong Kong International Film Festival, featuring a short directed by popular star JUNG Woo-sung, who is currently in theaters with the chart-topping thriller The Divine Move.