South Korean Film Awards & the Oscar Race

by Nathaniel R

THE UGLY... one of 19 films competing to become the Oscar submission

Since we've just starting hearing about Oscar submission decisions from the 100+ countries that Oscar invites to participate each year, let's talk about a country that wisely invested in their own arts, with both deregulation and regulation tactics (reducing government censorship whilst protecting home-grown cinema from Hollywood dominance via screen quotas) for the past couple of decades. The results have been impressive and South Korean entertainment is big in multiple countries now, including the US. While their cinema has been popular and lauded for some time, the American Oscars haven’t quite come around, with the sole exception of Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite (2019). It helped that Parasite had a) absolutely exquisite timing of festivals-to-theater-to-awards pipeline and b) was easy to spot as an instant classic / masterpiece. The former is hard (though not impossible) to manage and the latter is exceedingly rare! 

We suspect that Oscar’s resistance to South Korean cinema has to do with the Academy's general genre-aversion...

While it's true that Oscar voters have been loosening up in terms of genre for going on two decades now, it's incremental progress so historically “B” genres (sci-fi, fantasy, action, thrillers, horror) which accounts for a good deal of the most popular South Korean movies, still require a much higher level of execution for Oscar's embrace than, say, a historical drama or war film might.  It's worth noting that all three of the Korean films that were competitive with Oscar (Burning, Decision to Leave -- made the finals, Parasite was nominated) were within the thriller genre. Like many other Asian countries, you don’t see much of a bias against B genres in Korea's homegrown awards. I’ll admit upfront that South Korea’s own awards circus is a bit hard to decipher. They have (or had) roughly four awards events for movies: the Baeksang Arts Awards (May), the Buil Awards (September), and The Blue Dragon Awards (November). The fourth, the Grand Bell Awards (also in November), were not held last year ending their reign as the longest continuously running Korean film awards. It’s a pity as they were the ones most often referred to as ‘the Korean Oscars’.  (In addition to those homeland prizes, South Korean films are also eligible for the Asian Film Awards held in March, and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards which are traditionally in November.)

That's a whole lotta prizes and differing timetables! We don’t have the nominees yet for any of the upcoming events except for the Buil Awards but we know that the Korean Film Council, a state supported organization, will choose between the following 19 films for the Korean Oscar submission... 

• About Family by Yang Woo-suk. A comedy about a restaurant owner who becomes a monk

• <-- Dark Nuns by Kwon Hyeok-jae. [AVAILABLE TO RENT]
  Possession thriller with good cast including Lee Jin-wook (Sweet Home S1-3) and Song Hye-kyo (The Crossing). Their younger co-stars Jeon Yeo-been (Cobweb, After My Death) and teenage star Moon Woo-jin (Peninsula, Unmasked) are nominated at the Buil Awards as a nun, and a possessed boy, respectively.

• Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning by Kim Dong-chul. Possession thriller.

• Harbin by Woo Min-ho. [STREAMING ON HULU]
  Historical drama about a Korean resistance fighter who assassinated the Prime Minister of Japan in 1909. Harbin won "Best Film" at the Baeksang Arts Award and also leads the nominations at the Buil Film Awards (7 nominations) which will be held in September. Leading man Hyun Bin (Crash Landing on You) is up for Best Actor. Curiously it's the only title up for Best Film that's also on this list of films they're considering but some of that might be due to different calendars of eligibility... The Buil Awards eligibility runs from August 11, 2024 through July 10, 2025. The Blue Dragon Film Awards follow a calendar closer to the Oscar submission calendar as those nominations are announced in October (albeit a few weeks after the Oscar submission has been announced). Woo Min-ho was previously submitted for his film The Man Standing Next (2020)

• Hi-Five by Kang Hyeong-cheol. An action comedy about organ recipients who develop superpowers. The ensemble cast includes the always watchable Yoo Ah-In (Burning, #Alive, The Throne, Voice of Silence).

• The Killers (Multiple directors). An omnibus film about the titular subject.

LOVE IN THE BIG CITY

• Love in the Big City by E.oni. A drama following a free spirited woman (Kim Go-eun of Exhuma fame) and an HIV-positive gay man (Noh Sang-hyun of Pachinko fame) living together in Seoul. Both of the leads won Blue Dragon Awards in South Korea this past November, hers for Best Actress in Exhuma and his for Best New Actor in this film. The two stars and their director are all nominated at the Buil Awards. 

• Mimang by Kim Tae-yang. A romantic drama

• My Daughter Is a Zombie by Pil Kam-sung. [NOW IN THEATRICAL RELEASE]
  Good cast including Jo Jung-suk, Joon Kyung-ho, Lee Jeong-eun, and Cho Yeo-jeong (who took our Best Supporting Actress award for Parasite back in the day).

• No Other Choice by Park Chan-wook [EXPECTED AT FALL FESTIVALS]
  A new thriller about an unemployed desperate man (international star Lee Byung-hun)  from the one and only  Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Thirst, Lady Vengeance). Park's most recent thriller, Decision to Leave (2022), was shortlisted for this Oscar category but sadly wasn't nominated. 

• A Normal Family by Hur Jin-ho. A drama about two wealthy families meeting to discuss what to do about a violent crime one of their children committed. It’s based on the 2009 Herman Koch novel “The Dinner” which has already been adapted to feature in four countries: Netherlands, US, Italy, and South Korea.

THE OLD WOMAN AND THE KNIFE

• The Old Woman with the Knife by Min Kyu-dong. [IN THEATRICAL RELEASE]
  The 60 something actress Lee Hye-yeong (who had an awards run at festivals a few years back with In Front of Your Face) headlines this thriller about a legendary assassin. Two Buil nominations: Best Actress, Best Cinematography. 

• Omniscient Reader: The Prophet  by Kim Byung-woo. [IN THEATRICAL RELEASE]
  A fantasy film about a web novel that intrudes on our own reality. Lee Min-Ho (Pachinko, Gangman Blues) stars. 

• Secret: Untold Melody by Seo Yoo-min. [AVAILABLE TO RENT]
  A romantic fantasy about two musicians. 

• Somebody by Kim Yeo-jeong and Lee Jeong-chan. A mystery thriller starring Kwak Sun Young and Yuri.

• Spring Night by Mi-ja Kang.

• The Ugly by Yeon Sang-ho. [COMING SOON]
  A mystery thriller from the director of Train to Busan. Park Jeong-min (Hellbound S1, Decision to Leave) and Kwon Hae-hyo (Peninsula, The Day After) star. 

• When This Summer is Over  by Byungki Jang. Directorial debut which revolves around a kid whose sneakers are stolen at his new school.

• Yadang: The Snitch by Hwang Byeong-guk. [IN THEATRICAL RELEASE]
  Currently this crime drama about a drug deal informant is the biggest box office hit of 2025 in South Korea. Kang Ha-neul (Squid Games, S2) headlines. Two Buil nominations: Best Director, Best Supporting Actress Chae Won-bin.  

The nominations for The Blue Dragon Awards are likely to include some of these films but the Oscar decision will already made before those nominations are released. International cinephiles are surely rooting for No Other Choice, sight unseen, due to Park chan-wook fandom. But if it’s a weaker effort from that popular auteur, there might be room for one of the other films here to rise up, especially Harbin, Love in the Big City, or Yadang: The Snitch if their popularity translates to perceived Oscar appeal.

If you've seen any of these pictures, do tell!

While we’re waiting to see these pictures, why not share our favourite South Korean pictures? 

Nathaniel's dozen favourite Korean films (at this writing)... Asterisks indicate that they were the South Korean Oscar submission in their years…

BURNING

1. Parasite* (2019, Bong Joon ho) 

2. The Handmaiden (2016, Park chan-wook)

3. Spring summer fall winter and spring* (2003, Kim Ki-duk)

4. Poetry (2010, Lee Chang-dong)

5. Mother* (2009, Bong Joon ho)

6. Memories of Murder (2003, Bong Joon ho)

7. Burning* (2018, Lee Chang-dong)

8. Thirst (2009, Park chan-wook)

9. Train to Busan (2016, Yeong Sang-ho)

10. The Host (2006, Bong Joon-ho)
    
    THE HOUSEMAID

11. The Housemaid (2010, Im Sang-soo)

12. Decision to Leave* (2022, Park chan-wook)

Here are some titles that I haven't yet seen that people speak highly of and/or that I'm really curious about: The Housemaid (1960), Obaltan (1961), Mandala (1981), The Surrogate Woman (1987), Joint Security Area (2000), Oasis (2002), Sympathy for Mr Vengance (2002), 3-Iron (2004), King and the Clown* (2006), No Regret (2006), A Frozen Flower (2008), Pieta* (2012), Juvenile Offender* (2013), The Throne* (2015), Sleep (2023), Exhuma (2024). Have any recommendations for us?