Lee Byung-hun and Jeon Jong-seo won Best Actor and Best Actress at the 20th Director’s Cut Awards

Actor Lee Byung-hun and actress Jeon Jong-seo won Best Actor and Best Actress in the film category.

Hosted by the Directors Guild of Korea (DGK), the 20th Director’s Cut Awards was broadcast live online on February 24th.

Lee Byung-hun, who won Best Actor in the film category for “The Man Standing Next,” said, “Thank you so much for giving me such a great honor. Thank you once again for all the directors, filmmakers, and judges. It’s a happy thing for an actor to receive an award, but I think it’s especially meaningful to receive it at the Director’s Cut.”

He said, “I’ve been struggling and depressed for a long time because of the pandemic, but this award seems to give me a little strength and joy. I think the desperate situation these days makes me think deeply about how happy and fun it has been to meet many filmmakers at many award ceremonies, film festivals, and related events while filming. I hope that the situation will end quickly so that many filmmakers can laugh, ask after each other, and talk to each other.”

Jeon Jong-seo, who won the Best Actress award in the movie category for “The Call,” said, “Thank you. I was so nervous and happy to hear that an award was given to me by the directors. I think it will be a very special award for all actors who received it.“

While filming the movie “The Call, ” I was thinking about whether (me portraying) the character was attractive enough, but many people thought it was attractive, so it encouraged me to play a more challenging role in other movies or acting positions. Thank you director Lee Chung-hyun for letting me do such a work, and I am so grateful to Park Shin-hye, Kim Sung-ryeong, and Lee El, who acted with me,” she expressed her affection.

Until now, the Director’s Cut Awards has been a unique festival where only Korean film directors, actors, and candidates gather and talk about various things in a free atmosphere, not a hard-form award event. However, it had a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this year, it was made into an online live event.

From 7 p.m., it was broadcast live through Naver NOW, VLIVE, and Naver TV‘s Directors Guild of Korea channel.