Which international TV drama will win this year’s Awards?

Mr. Dong-geun Yoo, Chairman of the Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee, announced this year’s nominees

 

 

-      European dramas were in the lead, with the nominees in both the Program and Individual Category.

-      Germany’s Babylon Berlin was nominated in four Best categories

-      South Korea’s drama Mother from tvN and Fight for My Way from KBS entered the final round

-      The Japanese drama Solitary Gourmet won 'The Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year', and the lead actor Yutaka Matsushige is expected to attend.

 

 

7 August, 2018. Seoul, South Korea. The Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee (Chairman Jeong-hoon Park) announced the Seoul Drama Awards (SDA) 2018 nominees and attendees show at a press conference held in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

 

SDA, which began in 2006, is the world's largest TV drama festival based on s crip ted drama. This year, a total of 268 entries from 56 different countries entered the competition which beats the record of the previous years.[1] A total of 28 TV dramas and 28 individuals entered the final selection.

 

Mr. Dong-geun Yoo who has served the SDA since 2016 as the chairman of the Organizing Committee said, “SDA’s international reputation has been growing each year thanks to the wide array of nominees and fierce competition. The world’s largest movie & television database site IMDB also shares SDA’s official awards results."

 

Besides Mr. Yoo, Mr. Myung-woo Lee (producer at the Seoul Broadcasting System’s Drama Division), Mr. Dong-ryul Noh (professor of Media Communication at Sungshin Women's University), and Mr. Kyo-seok Kim (critic) attended the conference and announced the final nominees as well as announcing the evaluation reviews in each category. Producer Myung-woo Lee said, “Viewers can experience the unfamiliar culture and issues of foreign countries through these colorful dramas. It really was a special experience because one could interact with characters of the screen, sharing emotions of passion and concern.

 

This year, European dramas, especially from Germany, were in the lead. Not only did Europe mark the most number of entries, but a large percentage of European submissions entered the final round.

 

54 Hours, in the TV Movie category, cinematized a real-incident bank hostage situation that took place in Germany back in 1988. This show took a critical view of the media’s immorality and ineptitude, while also describing the hostages’ fear and the mind games between the criminals and the police.

 

In addition, Zarah – Wild Times from the Comedy Category depicts the journey of a feminist named Zarah Wolf who fights against a male-centric society and sexual discrimination which was common during the early 1970’s. It delved into women’s right issues along with detailed character des crip tions and showed outstanding performance from the actors.

 

In the Serial Drama category, Babylon Berlin received numerous acclaim. Babylon Berlin, which is a period drama, was nominated in both the Program and Individual categories. Babylon Berlin depicts Germany in social & political turmoil post World War I. Tom Tykwer, one of the co-directors of Babylon Berlin has also directed famous movies such as Cloud Atlas and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. The jury panel highly evaluated Babylon Berlin as it contained similar elements as in motion pictures such as outstanding cinematography and an engaging storyline.

 

Two Korean dramas survived as finalists: Mother in the Mini-Series category and Fight for My Way in the Comedy category. Moreover, Fight for My Way’s screenwriter Sang-choon Lim was nominated as Best Screenwriter in the Individual category. Meanwhile Bo-yeong Lee, the main actress from the Mini-Series Mother was nominated Best Actress and will be competing against other international nominees for the award.

 

Also, the Japanese drama Solitary Gourmet, won The Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year. Some of its episodes were filmed in Korea, which drew the attention of the show’s already passionate fans. The show’s leading actor, Yutaka Matsushige will be attending the awards ceremony and Korean fans will get a chance to meet him in person.

 

The winners for each category will be revealed on September 3^rd (Monday) at the festival. The ceremony will take place at KBS Hall located in Yeouido, and broadcast on September 4^th (Tuesday) through SBS.

 

 

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Introducing Seoul International Drama Awards 2018

The Seoul International Drama Awards, hosted by the Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee and the Korean Broadcasters Association, was founded in 2006. This year will be the 13^th event. It is for television experts and fans from all around the world to celebrate. This year, a total of 268 entries from 56 different countries entered the competition, once again proving SDA as an official, international drama festival. Grand Prize will be given to one drama with the most outstanding artistry, originality, and popularity among the categories: TV Movie, Mini-Series, Serial Drama, and Comedy. The awards ceremony will take place at the KBS Hall on September 3^rd (Monday) and be broadcast on September 4^th (Tuesday) through SBS.