This award is presented to cineastes who have made a notable contribution towards the globalization of Korean cinema. This year the award will be presented to the late actor Lee Sun-kyun who passed away in 2023. Lee Sun-kyun was a significant and widely loved actor of his generation, and worked with major Korean directors including Bong Joon-ho and Hong Sangsoo.
LEE Sun-kyun
The late Lee Sun-kyun garnered attention for his role in Paju (2009), directed by Park Chan-ok. He went on to reach the pinnacle of his career as he received international acclaim for his role in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019), which was markedly the first Korean film to receive the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival as well as winner of four awards at the Academy Awards. For 20 years, Lee Sun-kyun showed great depth in his acting, across a variety of genres, notable works including Our Sunhi (2013), A Hard Day (2014), The Advocate: A Missing Body (2015), The King’s Case Note (2016), Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage (2019), Kingmaker (2022), Killing Romance (2023), Sleep (2023), and Land of Happiness. In 2024, he received a special award from Austin Film Critics Association.