7.26.2012
“Fiesta of top-notch dramas of 2012!”
Seoul International Drama Awards 2012 announces finalists
- Most attended ever with 201 submissions from 45 countries, of which 24 finalists have been revealed from each award category
- A fierce judging expected from distinguished nominations including ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Kasha – The Card from Hell’ and ‘Sherlock 2’
- Final selection jury composed of 7 judges from 6 countries including Korea, Australia, China, Germany, Japan and USA
[Thursday, July 26, 2012, Seoul, Korea] The Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee (SDAOC) and the Korean Broadcasters Association will host the Seoul International Drama Awards (SDA) next month. SDA, the largest international drama festival, began in 2006 and is on its 7th year. Especially this year, there are 201 submissions from 45 countries making this the largest international drama awards ceremony. SDA 2012 aspires to become the Olympics of the drama-world by selecting outstanding dramas through a fair competition and allowing actors/actresses and fans from all over the world to mingle. The awards ceremony will take place on August 30 (Thurs) at 5:30PM at the National Theatre of Korea. The Awards will air live on KBS 2TV for 135 minutes. |
Among 24 works which passed the pre-screening, the show with the most outstanding cinematic quality, originality, and popularity will be selected for the Grand Prize. The Golden Bird Prize and Silver Bird Prize will be selected from each category: TV movie, mini-series and series/serial. The prize-winning works will be revealed at the awards ceremony.
In the TV movie category, 8 works including <Zenith> (Korea), and <Kasha - The Card from Hell> (Japan) were nominated. The film <Zenith> which drew much attention with Dong-Wan Kim taking the lead role is a biographical film covering the life of Mr. Lee Yuk-Sa, a much respected independence activist and poet of Korea. This film won the Grand Prize in the “TV Special – Dramatic” category at the 45th Worldfest-Houston International Festival last April. ‘Kasha - The Card from Hell’ is based on the popular novel ‘Kasha’ written by Miyabe Miyuki and it was adapted into a movie <Helpless> (Korean pronunciation “Hwacha”) in Korea. Miyabe Miyuki said, “I hope this is a good opportunity for Kasha fans in Korea to enjoy and compare the differences between the film and the Japanese TV drama.”
In the mini-series category, 8 shows including <Boardwalk Empire> (US), <Great Expectations> (UK), and <Sherlock 2> (UK) were nominated. <Boardwalk Empire> was nominated in 18 categories at the 2011 Emmy awards and won 8 awards including the ‘Outstanding Directing’ award. It also won the ‘Best Drama Series’ and the ‘Best Male Actor’ awards at the Golden Globes.
<Great Expectations> is a popular drama viewed by 11.2 million people all over the world. It was televised on BBC1 in the UK and PBS in the US. This drama won the ‘Best Drama’ awards at the Televisual Bulldog in UK. Moreover, it was nominated for 7 categories at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). <Sherlock 2> (UK) was televised on KBS 2TV and a cable channel in Korea and gained popularity with many viewers. This drama received high recognition at various major awards ceremonies in the UK and the US. It won the ‘Best Drama’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ awards at the BAFTA and the `Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials` at the Television Critics Association Awards (TCA).
For the series and serial category, 8 shows including Korean dramas such as the <Deep Rooted Tree>, <Moon Embracing the Sun>, and <The Princess’ Man> have been nominated garnering much public interest inside and outside Korea.
In addition, nominees for the Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor, and Best Actress were revealed. Noted for his diverse genre-background in filmography such as the indie film <Coffee and Cigarettes> and the romance film <Paris, Je t’aime>, Steve Buscemi was nominated for the ‘Best Actor’ award for his performance in <Boardwalk Empire>. Also, Idris Elba who left a strong impression in films such as <Thor, the god of thunder> and <Ghost Rider> was also nominated for his performance in <Luther 2> just like he was nominated in the same category and acclaimed for his performance in <Luther 1> at SDA 2011. For the ‘Best Actress’ award, the nominees include Gillian Anderson, popularly known in Korea as agent Scully from <The X-files> series, for her performance in <Great Expectations>. Moreover, among Korean actors and actresses, Ha-gyun Shin from <Brain> and Ji-won Ha from <The King 2 Hearts> were nominated.
Among the strong group of nominees for the ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Screenwriter’ awards, <Great Expectations> director Brian Kirk was nominated for the ‘Best Director’ award. Kirk directed numerous popular dramas such as <Game of Thrones>, <Luther>, <The Tudors> and <Dexter>. Notably, Kirk also helped to direct <Boardwalk Empire>. David Straiton who helped direct <Heroes>, and <House M.D> is also a candidate for the series/serial category for his work in the court thriller drama <The Firm> based on the John Grisham’s novel published in 1991. Moreover, Yoshiko Morishita, a famous screenwriter who wrote popular works such as the <White Night>, and <Socrates in Love> was also nominated for the ‘Best Screenwriter’ award with <Jin- Final>.
The winning shows for each category will be selected through a fair judging of 6 professionals from domestic and overseas TV industry led by the Head judge Jae-Soon Pyo (Chair-professor at the Hallyu Culture Evening Graduate School of PaiChai University).
Among the judges are Mee-hee Jang (Korean actress and professor at the Department of Theater and Video at Myongji College), Wenjun Yang (One of the top 5 drama directors in China), Yoshiki Nishimura (NHK Drama Division Executive Producer), Cynthia Fenneman (American Public Television CEO), Norbert Sauer (German UFA Film and TV Productions Chairman), and Trudy-Ann Tierney (Senior consultant at Kaboora Productions/Moby Media Group)
[Reference] Seoul International Drama Awards 2012 Finalists
Finalists |
TV Movie | Calm at Sea (France) Homevideo (Germany) Kasha - The Card from Hell (Japan) Red Ribbon (Finland) | The Good Neighbour (Germany) The Lost Worldcup (Italy) The Treaty of Double Bed (China) Zenith (Korea) |
Mini-series | All-Night Diner 2 (Japan) Boardwalk Empire (US) Clash (France) Fyodor Dostoevsky (Russia) | Great Expectations (UK) Kaboul Kitchen (France) Sherlock 2 (UK) The Bomber (Ukraine) |
Series Serial | Broken Promises (Colombia) Deep Rooted Tree (Korea) Ezel (Turkey) Gran Reserva – Vintage (Spain) | Home of People`s Hearts (China) Moon Embracing the Sun (Korea) The Firm (US) The Princess’ Man (Korea) |
Best Director |
TV Movie | Feng Gao (China, Camel Caravan) Nick Renton/ Gillies Mackinnon (UK, Inspector George Gently 5) |
Mini-series | Brian Kirk (UK, Great Expectations) Vitaliy Vorobyov (Ukraine, The Bomber) |
Series Serial | Yang Yang (China, Home of People`s Hearts) David Straiton (US, The Firm) |
Best Screenwriter |
TV Movie | Angel Aranda (Spain, Angel of Budapest) Harald Gockeritz/ Miguel Alexandre (Germany, The Man with the Bassoon) |
Mini-series | Sarah Phelps (UK, Great Expectations) Yoshiko Morishita (Japan, Jin – Final) |
Series Serial | Soo-hyun Kim (Korea, A Thousand Days` Promise) Young-hyun Kim/ Sang-hyun Park (Korea, Deep Rooted Tree) |
Best Actor |
TV Movie | Julien Boisselier (Germany, Henri of Navarre) Jonas Nay (Germany, Homevideo) |
Mini-series | Steve Buscemi (US, Boardwalk Empire) Idris Elba (UK, Luther 2) |
Series Serial | Ha-gyun Shin (Korea, Brain) Kenan Imirzalioglu (Turkey, Ezel) |
Best Actress |
TV Movie | Jeanne Balibar (France, Clara`s off to Die) Christine Neubauer (Germany, Hanna`s Decision) |
Mini-series | Gillian Anderson (UK, Great Expectations) Cristiana Reali (France, Clash) |
Series Serial | Ji-won Ha (Korea, The King 2 Hearts) Beren Saat (Turkey, Fatmagul) |