Actors Lee Jung-eun and Yoo Tae-oh have been selected as judges for the Actor of the Year award at the Busan International Film Festival this year.
On the 13th, the 30th Busan International Film Festival announced that Lee Jung-eun and Yoo Tae-oh have been chosen as judges for the Actor of the Year award.
The Actor of the Year award was established in 2014 to discover and spotlight emerging actors in Korean feature independent films. It is awarded to one male and one female actor who performed at their best in works from the institutional sector. This is a meaningful occasion where senior actors who have led Korean cinema directly present the award to the next generation of stars.
Actor Lee Jung-eun, selected as a judge, has left a deep impression with her delicate performances in dramas such as "Mr. Sunshine" (2018), "The Light in Your Eyes" (2019), and "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), and has firmly established herself as a representative acting talent in South Korea by sweeping the Best Supporting Actress awards at major ceremonies, including the Blue Dragon Film Awards, for her role as Moon-gwang in the film "Parasite" (2019). Based on her foundation built in theater and musical performances, she continues to showcase a wide acting spectrum across various genres in both film and drama, including "Okja" (2017), "The Book of Fish" (2021), "The Day I Died" (2020), "Youth Judgment" (2022), and "My Daughter is a Zombie" (2025).
Yoo Tae-oh gained international recognition with his film "Leto" (2018), which was invited to the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, and has actively worked both domestically and internationally through projects such as "Vertigo" (2019), the drama "Money Game" (2020), "School Nurse Ahn Eun-young" (2020), and "The Recruit Season 2" (2025). He has also expanded his field by directing the documentary "Log In Belgium" (2021) and received acclaim for his deep inner performance as Jung Hae-sung in "Fast Lives" (2023), while becoming the first Korean actor nominated for Best Actor at the British Academy Film Awards in 2024, establishing himself as a global actor.
The winners of the Actor of the Year award will each receive a cash prize of 5 million won, and at the 30th Busan International Film Festival's "Night of Vision," actors Lee Jung-eun and Yoo Tae-oh will personally present the awards.
The 30th Busan International Film Festival, which is raising expectations by announcing the judges for the Actor of the Year award, will be held for ten days from Sept. 17, Wednesday, to Sept. 26, Friday, at the Busan Cinema Center.
[Photo] Anic, Bitnik provided.
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