Korean Actor Lee Byung-Hun Accepts Prestigious Asia Pacific Screen Award
Kim Tae-yong, Lee Choon-yun, Kim Dong-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Kim Hong-joon, Michael Hawkins Click here for high-resolution version ·Marketwired
Marketwired
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--(Marketwired - Jun 3, 2014) - Korean actor Lee Byung-hun has received the 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) for Best Performance by an Actor for his dual performance in the blockbuster Masquerade, after missing last year's APSA ceremony due to film commitments.
Honoured at an event at the Australian Embassy in Seoul, Mr Lee was also inducted into the prestigious Asia Pacific Screen Academy -- a growing body of 650 respected filmmakers -- in front of Academy members and leading representatives from the Korean film industry, including producer and 2013 APSA FIAPF Award winner Lee Choon-yun.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards are held annually in Brisbane, Australia, which is also the host city for the upcoming 2014 G20 Leaders' Summit.
Brisbane-based APSA Chairman Michael Hawkins was in Seoul to present Byung-hun with his award and said APSA was very proud of its strong relationship with the Republic of Korea's film industry.
"We value the opportunity to honour Mr Lee in his home country, which is a key player in the Asia Pacific region and produces high quality films which are very well represented in competition at APSA every year," Mr Hawkins said.
"Over the past seven years, more than 100 Korean films have competed at APSA, winning 14 individual awards.
"Lee Byung-hun has received this award -- his first APSA win -- for his two starring roles, as a king and acrobat in Masquerade, which was the fourth highest-grossing Korean film of all time, grossing more than $US80 million.
"We are truly honoured to formally present Mr Lee with his unique winner's vessel in person."
This year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be held on Thursday 11 December, a month after Brisbane hosts the 2014 G20 Leaders' Summit, of which the Republic of Korea is a member.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said preparations for both events were well underway.
"The G20 Leaders' Summit will be the most important gathering of world leaders ever held in Australia, with members representing around 85 per cent of global GDP, more than 75 per cent of global trade and two-thirds of the world's population," Cr Quirk said.
"Brisbane is Australia's new world city, a rising star in the Asia Pacific and a key economic development hub.
"It's estimated that 4000 delegates and up to 3000 media representatives will descend on the city in November and for two days Brisbane will be the capital of the world.
"Already considered a world class destination for business, tourism and education, the 2014 G20 Leaders' Summit provides a once-in-a-generation chance for Brisbane to step up and take its place among the emerging new world cities of the 21st century."
Brisbane-based APSA partner Griffith University Film School is currently collaborating with Dankook University (Republic of Korea) and Beijing Film Academy (People's Republic of China) on an unprecedented initiative which will bring together master student filmmakers from across the region to develop a cross-border feature film project which will be shot in Brisbane.
The initiative was founded by APSA Patron Kim Dong-ho who is Dean of Dankook University's Graduate School of Cinematic Content.
Professor Hong-Joon Kim is the current Chairman of the APSA International Nominations Council and there have been four representatives from the Republic of Korea on the International Jury: Kim Dong-ho (2007), producer Hanna Lee (2008), director Gina Kim (2009) and writer/director Kim Tae-yong (2013).
The Korean Film Producers Organisation also works closely with APSA as a Member Organisation.
A star in both Korea and internationally, Lee Byung-hun's breakthrough performance was in the Park Chan-wook thriller Joint Security Area which broke box office records at the time.
In 2005 he had his first of three collaborations with director Kim Ji-woon's violent crime thriller
A Bittersweet Life, which screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His second collaboration with Kim Ji-woon was The Good, The Bad and the Weird (2008), which won the APSA for Achievement in Cinematography and was nominated for Achievement in Directing.
In 2009, Mr Lee made his international screen debut in GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra, in which he starred alongside Sienna Miller and Christopher Eccleston.
Since then, he has gone on to star in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the action comedy blockbuster Red 2, alongside Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT APSA:
The 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards are presented by Treasury Casino & Hotel and will be held in Brisbane's City Hall.
They are supported by Brisbane City Council and managed by economic development board Brisbane Marketing in a unique collaboration with Paris-based UNESCO and FIAPF.
The awards recognise and promote cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world's fastest-growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and responsible for half of the world's film output.
In 2013, 39 films from 22 countries and areas received award nominations.
