Two Korean dramas are among finalists competing for the 14th Seoul International Drama Awards.
The organizing committee of the awards announced a list of 28 television dramas from Korea and abroad selected as finalists for this year, at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul on Thursday.
Two Korean productions, comedy drama “Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo” and music drama “To Jenny,” were chosen as contenders for the best drama award.
From left: Poster image for "Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo" (MBC) and “To Jenny” (KBS2)
Korean director Park Chan-wook’s “Little Drummer Girl” which aired on British public service broadcaster BBC, was also nominated for the award. Other contenders include “Bauhaus” from Germany, “Butterfly” from the UK and “Little Coincidences” from Spain.
Kim Dong-wook, who plays a leading role in “Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo,” was nominated for best actor. Korean Canadian actor Paul Sun-hyung Lee was also nominated for the award for his role in “Kim’s Convenience.”
Other contenders for best actor include Felix Maritaud for the French drama “Jonas” and Karl Markovics for Austrian drama “Shilings From Heaven.”
Meanwhile, Shin Hye-seon was on the list of nominees for best actress for her role in “The Hymn of Death. Alicia von Rittberg, who starred in German drama “Bauhaus,” and Florence Pugh, the leading actress in “The Little Drummer Girl,” were also among the seven nominees in the category.
This year, 270 entries from 61 countries were submitted, marking the largest number since the annual event was launched in 2006.
Veteran actor Yoo Dong-geun, Yoo Soo-yeol of The Corea Drama Production Association, Yang Yoon-seok of Korean Broadcasters Association, screenwriter Jung Yoon-jung and culture critic Pierce Conran attended the press event held Thursday.
Organized by the Seoul Drama Awards and the Korean Broadcasters Association, the event hopes to highlight quality productions around the world and leading figures in the TV drama scene.
The 14th annual Seoul International Drama Awards will take place at the Grand Peace Hall at Kyunghee University in central Seoul on Aug. 28.
By Im Eun-byel (
silverstar@heraldcorp.com)