Seoul International Drama Awards 2022 Nomination Announcement 

225 dramas from 39 countries(regions) participated in the midst of the Pandemic

A competitive race between dramas/directors/screenwriters/actresses/actors from 11 countries(regions)

[Press Release : 2022-08-02]

The nominees for the ‘Seoul International Drama Awards 2022’, which select the world’s best drama and drama stars, have been screened.

The Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee(Chairman: Eui-Chul Kim) conducted a preliminary selection on 225 works from 39 countries(regions) submitted to the International Competition. As a result, a total of 24 works from 11 countries(regions) and 30 individual award nominees were selected. The International Competition has announced eight nominees in the program category consisting of three divisions(TV Movie, Mini-Series, and Serial Drama) and nominees in the individual category(Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actress and Actor) for the final selection.

△ In the program category, 8 pieces from TV Movie such as <Help> from the U.K., <Take Me Home> from Germany, 8 pieces from Mini-Series such as <The Last Summers of the Raspberries> from Canada, <Station Eleven> from the U.S., and 8 pieces from Serial Drama such as <The Ideal City> by iQIYI from China, <Destan> from Türkiye will compete in the final selection. 

△ In the individual category, a total of 7 directors(or team) will compete for the Best Director award with nominees including Japanese American director Hiro Murai who owns a unique record of directing one of the music videos of Usher, the R&B pop emperor and Jeremy Podeswa with <Station Eleven>, French director Akim Isker with <Nobody's Child>, and Korean director Sangyeol Choi with <Hee-Soo> televised on KBS.

△ For the Best Screenwriter award, 6 writers will compete in the final round including Agnes Pluch of <Breaking Point> which depicts a shopping mall murder caused by among five characters who fall into a state of emergency, and Heejung Han of <The King's Affection> which depicts a secret royal romance where one of the twin sister and brother disguises as a man and become a prince after the death of the oldest son of the crown prince.

△ For the Best Actress award, Jodie Comer, a winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and also well known for her performance in the British series <Killing Eve> with Sandra Oh, Somin Jeon, who got the reputation by transforming into a completely different character, and Ebru Şahin, a Türkiye's top stars as a model and actress who is also known as the wife of NBA Cleveland Cedi Osman were nominated.

△ For the Best Actor award, Stephen Graham of a movie <Boiling Point> which released new and known for <The Irishman> and <Venom>, Sebastian Koch, who is also famous for <Never Look Away> and <A Good Day To Die Hard>, and Namgil Kim, a Korean actor who portrayed perfectly as a profiler Ha-young Song in <Through The Darkness> are aligning together. 

In particular, as <Help> was nominated in three categories; Best TV Movie, Best Actress, and Actor, it draws attention as to whether it would be honored with three crowns. Also, attention is given to Paramount from the U.S. and HA International from Iran as they presented for the first time and made the cut at the 17th Seoul International Drama Awards. 

The judges noted that a large number of high-standard and worthwhile dramas were submitted even under the poor production environment caused by the pandemic. Notably, dramas with the theme of COVID-19 have a grand meaning leaving a critical message to us about what humanity should do further.

The winners of the Seoul International Drama Awards 2022 will be presented at the Awards Ceremony, to be broadcasted live at KBS2TV 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM(KST) on September 22nd, Thursday. Besides the International Competition, Outstanding Asian Stars from six countries(regions), and more award winners are going to be announced. In addition to the main ceremony, the Seoul International Drama Awards 2022 will start with an O.S.T concert on September 17th(Sat), followed by varied events such as GV Screening on the 21st(Wed) and 23rd(Fri).

The Seoul International Drama Awards is the world's first global drama award established in 2006 to unite people around the world through dramas and to enhance the drama industry. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Seoul Metropolitan Government, KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS, and CBS. On a cumulative basis, 3,298 pieces of work from 82 countries have participated as of 2021.