For the second year in a row, a documentary feature won the Grand Prize at South Korea’s Wildflower Film Awards. “The Remnants” was directed by Kim Il-ran & Lee Hyuk-san.
Jung Sung-il was named best documentary director for “Night and Fog in Zona.” Best director in the narrative category was Jeon Go-woon for “Microhabitat.”
The awards were launched six years ago by former Variety correspondent Darcy Paquet, and film critic Oh Dong-jin, in an effort to recognize Korean independent cinema. The awards presentation took place in Seoul on Friday.
This year for the first time cash prizes were given to all awards recipients — a total of KRW20 million won ($18,000) sponsored by retail chain E-Mart. There will be a five-day screening event at Megabox COEX from April 18-22 award-winning films will be screened.
The nominees were selected from a preliminary list of 57 fiction films and 26 documentaries released in the calendar year 2018. There were separate juries of filmmakers, critics, professors who drew up the list of nominations, and the final winners.
2019 Wildflower Film Awards Winners
Grand Prize: Kim Il-ran & Lee Hyuk-san “The Remnants”
Best director: narrative films: Jeon Go-woon “Microhabitat”
Best director: documentaries: Jung Sung-il “Night and Fog in Zona”
Best actress: Esom “Microhabitat”
Best actor: Sung Yu-bin “Last Child”
Best screenplay: Shin Dong-seok “Last Child”
Best cinematography: Kim Jong-sun “Beautiful Days”
Best new director: Kim Ui-seok “After My Death”
Dandelion Award for notable documentary: Kim Bo-ram “For Vagina’s Sake”
Best new actor or actress: Lee Jae-in “Adulthood”
Best supporting actor or actress: Kim Sae-byuk “Grass”
Best music: Chung Chae-woong “Eyelids”