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SHIN Su-won’s third feature Madonna, which debuted in the Un Certain Regard lineup of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, has won the Halekulani Golden Orchid for Best Narrative Feature at the 35th Hawaii International Film Festival.

 

The USD 5,000 prize was presented by the HIFF jury, which featured Jérôme Paillard (Executive Director, Marché du film, Festival de Cannes), film producer Nina Yang Bongiovi and Berlin and Shanghai Film Festival programmer John Badalu.

 

The jurors also wrote: “Storytelling from a woman’s perspective, marginalized individuals given a voice, revealing the harsh and violent reality in contemporary society’s in a well-written script with beautiful execution. Aesthetics and cinematography lends itself to quality filmmaking, with a solid cast. Even though the film reflects one particular society, the theme was universal and impactful.”

 

The story of a young woman’s abuse at the hands of society and unwilling descent into prostitution and destitution, Madonna features a nurse who comes into contact with the woman when she arrives at her hospital in a coma. She then decides to learn more about her life and what brought her there. Following in the footsteps of SHIN’s films Passerby #3 (2010) and PLUTO (2013), Madonna has received critical acclaim and a number of invitations to international film events, including the Busan and BFI London Film Festivals.

 

Meanwhile Korean star HA Jung-woo was given the Renaissance Award for his career and work both as an actor and director. HA is known for his collaborations with director NA Hong-jin (The Chaser, 2008; The Yellow Sea, 2010), as well as commercial hits such as The Terror, LIVE (2013), RYOO Seung-wan’s The Berlin File (2013) and this summer’s Assassination.