Taiwanese actress and director Sylvia Chang has won the Camellia Award.
On the afternoon of the 17th, the opening ceremony of the 30th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) was held at the Busan Haeundae Cinema Center, hosted by actor Lee Byung-hun.
Sylvia Chang expressed her gratitude, saying, "I am so thankful to receive such a wonderful award. It is a great honor. I started my first work as an actress in 1972, and I fell completely in love with film from that moment. Since then, I have worked hard without rest. I got married and became a mother in between, but I never gave up on film."
She continued, "I have written scripts, directed, and produced, and I have become even more deeply immersed in it. Was it hard? Of course. But those difficulties have actually become a greater strength for me. In that sense, the camellia flower symbolizes love and dedication for me."
Sylvia Chang added, "I am excited to share my new work with everyone at the film festival. I want to show that I am still alive. I am really happy. Thank you once again."
The Camellia Award was established by BIFF and Chanel to elevate the status of women in the film industry and to widely recognize the cultural and artistic contributions of pioneering female filmmakers.
Sylvia Chang, a director, actress, and producer from Taiwan, has expanded the realm of female filmmakers by taking on various roles. Over the past 50 years, she has appeared in over 100 works and has been loved as an icon of Taiwanese cinema, winning several Best Actress awards at major film festivals in Asia.
She debuted as a director in the 1980s and has directed 15 works, including "20 30 40" (2004), which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, "The Whispering of the Heart" (2015), which was the opening film of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and "Love Education" (2017), which won the Best Screenplay Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards and was the closing film of the 2017 Busan International Film Festival.
This year's Busan Film Festival, celebrating its 30th anniversary, will meet audiences with a total of 328 films from 64 countries, including 87 films in the Community BIFF section and 32 films in the Neighborhood BIFF section.
The opening film selected is "Nothing Can Be Done" by director Park Chan-wook. "Nothing Can Be Done" tells the story of a company employee, Mansoo, who feels satisfied with life to the point of feeling that "everything has been achieved," but suddenly gets fired. To protect his wife and two children and to keep the house he worked hard to acquire, he prepares for his own war towards re-employment. The film stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran, and Park Hee-soon.
The 30th Busan International Film Festival will be held until the 26th at the Busan Cinema Center.
[Yang So-young, Star Today Reporter]
