Song Kang-ho named best actor at Montreal’s Fantasia film festival
SEOUL: Veteran actor Song Kang-ho was named Best Actor at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival for his role in ‘A Taxi Driver’.
The period film also closed this year’s 21st edition of the genreoriented festival - the first time a Korean movie was given the honour.
The film’s director Jang Hun accepted the award on Song’s behalf.
The actor was lauded for his role as a cab driver in the film, set during the Gwangju uprising, a civil revolt against Korea’s military government that took place in May 1980.
The movie, based on the true story of an ambitious German reporter Jurgen Hinzpeter, revolves around the journey of the driver and the reporter to Gwangju, in the southwestern part of the country. Hinzpeter played a crucial role in reporting on the Gwangju protests and the subsequent massacre that ensued.
The film, co-starring actors Yoo Hai-jin and Ryu Jun-yeol, hit local theatres Wednesday, and swept the box office, selling nearly 700,000 tickets on its opening day.
The movie is slated to be released later this month in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Song, well-known for his appearances in award-winning movies like ‘Snowpiercer’ (2013), ‘The Host’ (2006) and ‘Memories of Murder’ (2003), previously nabbed the Best Actor award at the festival a decade ago for his role in ‘The Show Must Go On’ (2007).
In addition to ‘A Taxi Driver’, sports drama ‘Split’, directed by Choi Kook-hee, received the New Flesh Award for Best First Feature, which is awarded to a first-time director of a full-length film.