Korean indie film wins special award at British film festival

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- The award-winning South Korean indie film "House of Hummingbird" has won a special commendation in the first feature competition at a British film festival, its distributor, Atnine Film Co., said Friday. During the BFI London Film Festival, which was held from Oct. 2-13, judges gave the award to the 2018 film, directed by Kim Bo-ra, as it "talks about the ambiguity within human relationships and has a very profound insight on human existence." The latest award brings to 28 the number of awards the South Korean flick received at overseas film festivals. Kim's debut film premiered and won prizes at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival in October 2018, grabbed more awards at the Seoul Independent Film Festival and won the Grand Prix for best feature film from the Generation 14plus sidebar for youth-oriented films at the 69th Berlin Film Festival in February this year. Actress Park Ji-hu, who plays the heroine in the film, has been nominated for the award of Best Performance by an Actress at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Set in a rapidly developing Seoul in 1994, the film is a touching coming-of-age drama centered around Eun-hee, an isolated, lonely 14-year-old girl in a dysfunctional family. As a middle school student, Eun-hee wanders aimlessly while continuously seeking love and purpose like a hummingbird, which flaps its wings 90 times a second, until she meets a new teacher who discovers her unique talents and humble surroundings. On Thursday, the number of admissions for the film came to 126,813, a remarkable achievement in a local market where most indie films don't attract more than 10,000 moviegoers. namsh@yna.co.kr (END)