Jung Yoon-suk’s documentary, “Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno” was named Grand Prize winner at South Korea’s Wildflower Awards on Thursday (Apr. 12). The film cast light on a college punk duo and their struggles with government censorship. “Bamseom Pirates” is the first documentary to win Grand Prize.
Hong Sang-soo won best narrative film director for “The Day After,” which competed at Cannes Film Festival in 2017. The best documentary director award went to Moon Chang-yong and Jeon Jin for “Becoming Who I Was.”
The numerical winner was “Jane,” which scooped four trophies. The queer drama won the best actress award for Lee Min-ji; best screenplay for Cho Hyun-hoon and Kim So-mi; best cinematography for Cho Young-jik; and best score for Flash Flood Darlings.
Veteran, Key Joo-bong won the best actor prize for his role in “Merry Christmas Mr. Mo,” which also earned Lim Dae-hyeong the best new narrative film director award. Best new documentary director went to “Still And All” director Kim Young-jo.
An Bo-young was named best producer for “Ash Flower,” the first time that the producer award has been made.
In its fifth year, the Wildflower Awards were launched by former Variety correspondent Darcy Paquet, and film critic Oh Dong-jin, in an effort to recognize Korean independent cinema.
