The Grand Bell Awards , also known as Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea.
The 52nd ceremony was held on November 20, 2015 in the KBS Hall in Seoul and hosted by Shin Hyun Joon and Han Go Eun. To promote the awards beyond the borders of Korea, the show was also broadcasted live online in China and a new category was added, regarding foreign actors. Furthermore, the head of the steering committee announced that they were pressing for North Korean directors and actors to attend and compete.
However, the ceremony was an utter disaster, chiefly due to a number of mishandling and much controversy. Roughly a month before the ceremony, the organizers announced that they would present awards only to the winners that attended the ceremony. Otherwise, the award would be given to another nominee. As expected, the announcement shocked the industry, thus resulting in the absence of the 11 of the 22 winners, although the organizers had retracted the rule, a week before the ceremony.
Furthermore, the competition, which had been repeatedly accused for lack of meritocracy and transparency, had an additional crisis this year due to the indictment of the former chief of the steering committee, Lee Kyu-tae for fraud over defense procurement deals.
To weather the storm, the committee named as public relations ambassador, along with actress Son Ye Jin, in an attempt to draw from their popularity.
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[cbtab title=”Award Winners”]
Best Picture: Ode to My Father
Director Award: Yoon Je Kyun (Ode to My Father)
Screenplay: Ode to My Father (Park Su Jin)
Actor Award: Hwang Jung Min (Ode to My Father)
Actress Award: Jeon Ji Hyun (Assassination)
Supporting Actor: Oh Dal Soo (Ode to My Father)
Supporting Actress: Kim Hae Sook (Sado)
New Actor: Lee Min Ho (Gangnam 1970)
New Actress: Lee Yoo Young (Spring)
New Director: Baek Jong Yeol (Beauty Inside)
Cinematography: Ode to My Father (Choi Young Hwan)
Lighting: The Silenced (Kim Min Jae)
Editing: Ode to My Father (Lee Jin)
Music: The Tenor Lirico Spinto (Kim Joon Sung)
Costuming: The Royal Tailor (Jo Sang Kyung)
Art Direction: The Royal Tailor (Chae Kyung Sun)
High Technology Special Award: Ode to My Father
Sound Recording Award: Ode to My Father (Lee Seung Chul, Han Myung Hwan)
Foreign Category Award: Sun Honglei, Gao Yuanyuan
Popularity Award: Kim Soo Hyun, Gong Hyo Jin
Korean Film Lifetime Achievement Award: Jung Chang Hwa (director), Yoon Il Bong (actor)
Planning: Ode to My Father
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