S. Korean indie film wins New York Festivals award

The poster of “Let Me Out.”

A South Korean indie film has received the top honor for feature films during the 57th New York Festivals, the movie’s local distributor said Friday.

“Let Me Out” that opened simultaneously in South Korea and the United States last year won the prestigious Gold World Medal in the feature films category of the 2014 New York Festivals’ International TV & Film Awards, beating out 50 competitors, BaekDu-DaeGan Films Co. said. It was the first Korean film to grab the award.

“Let Me Out” was released back to back in both Korea and the United States last year, receiving rave reviews from critics and audiences. The movie is a hilarious indie meta-film about the coming of age of an amateur student director from a film school making his first zombie melodrama.

Written and directed by Jae Soh and Kim Chang-rae from the Seoul Institute of the Arts, and produced by Irene Cho and Min Soh, the film starring Kwon Hyun-sang, the son of veteran director Im Kwon-taek, is a comedy but with a slew of sarcastic portrayals of the harsh realities of the Korean filmmaking industry.

For the documentary section, MBC’s “Haena’s Miracle” won the Gold Medal Award in human programs and SBS’s “Tears of School” received the Silver Medal Award in social issue programs.

To commemorate the honor, the Baekdu Daegan Film Company will hold a special screening event in Arthouse Momo and a Q&A with director Soh on April 21.