In the main competition PARK Chul-soon’s debut feature <Lovable> took home two awards, and in the short film section KIM Kwang-bin’s <Modern Family> and YOON Ga-eun’s <Guest> were both honored.
PARK’s
<Lovable>, which follows the travails of a young autistic girl from a poor family in a small town, was named Best Narrative Feature. The film’s main character was portrayed by child actress YOO Hae-jung, who was additionally given a Special Jury Prize for Acting. <Lovable> was also screened at last year’s Busan International Film Festival.
Among the festival’s short films, KIM Kwang-bin’s <Modern Family> was awarded Best Narrative Short. The film is a dark comedy that addresses children, violence and social mores in Korea. It has screened at a slew of festivals over the past year in places such as Leeds, Busan, San Francisco and Dubai, where it won First Prize among shorts.
YOON Ga-eun’s <Guest>, which was awarded a Grand Prize at the 34th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2012, also grabbed a Special Jury Prize for Acting, given to actress JUNG Yeon-joo. <Guest> concerns a teen’s discovery of her father’s extramarital affair.
Held July 12-19, AFFD featured a total of nine Korean films. Features screened included JEON Gye-soo’s
<Love Fiction>, Harry KIM’s
<Too Many Villians>, <Lovable> and the KIM Jee-woon/YIM Pil-sung omnibus
<Doomsday Book>, which was the fest’s closing film. Shorts included KIM Q-hyun’s <Mirror>, <Guest>, HWANG Hogil’s <Potato>, <Modern Family> and LIM Boyoung’s <Two Brothers>. A full list of awardees follows.
AFFD 2012 feature film award winners for excellence in film:
Best Documentary Feature: CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT (China/Canada; dir: Yung CHANG)
Best Narrative Feature: LOVABLE (Korea; dir: PARK Chul-soon)
Special Jury Prize for Cinematography: PEARLS OF THE FAR EAST (Vietnam/Canada; dir: Cuong NGO)
Special Jury Prize for Acting: YOO Hae-Jung, LOVABLE
Special Jury Prize for Advocacy Filmmaking: GIVE UP TOMORROW (Phillipines/USA; dir: Michael COLLINS)
Special Jury Mention: GOLDEN SLUMBERS (Cambodia/France; dir: Davy CHOU)
Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Performance: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (USA; dir: Dave BOYLE)
AFFD 2012 short film award winners:
Best Narrative Short: MODERN FAMILY (Korea; dir: KIM Kwang-bin)
Special Jury Prize: LOVE LIKE ALIENS (USA/Japan; dir: Rashad HAUGHTON)
Special Jury Prize for Acting: JUNG Yeon-joo, GUEST (Korea; dir: YOON Ga-eun)