News: HAN GONG-JU Picks Up Yet Another Award in Rotterdam

By Pierce Conran

Following its debut at the Busan International Film Festival last October, Lee Su-jin's film Han Gong-ju has been blazing a trail on the international film festival circuit ever since. It's most recent win came last night at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it picked up the coveted Tiger Award. It is the fifth time a Korean film has picked up the prize in the last 18 years.

After picking up the Citizen Reviewers' and CGV Movie Collage Award in Busan, Lee's film went on to win a minor award at the Seoul Independent Film Festival and the Marrakesh International Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Star, in December. Han Gong-ju also screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival last month.

In the film, Han Gong-ju is a girl who moves schools after something terrible happens. She tries to settle into her new environment but her memories of the past still haunt her. Lee's film follows previous Korean Tiger Award recipients The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well by Hong Sangsoo in 1997, Park Chan-ok’s Jealousy Is My Middle Name in 2003, Yang Ik-june’s Breathless in 2009 and Park Jung-bum’s The Journals of Musan in 2011.
Han Gong-ju came in at number two on MKC's Top 10 films of 2013. Read our Busan review here:

Busan 2013 Review: The Devastating Han Gong-ju Is BIFF's Hidden Gem

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