S. Korean indie film 'Old Partner' receives award in U.S.

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- The low-budget South Korean documentary "Old Partner (Weonangsori)" has received an award at the Silverdocs Documentary Festival in Washington D.C., becoming the first Korean indie film to be honored at the annual event, the film's local distributor said Wednesday.

The film, which focuses on a decades-long relationship between an ox and an old
farmer, received the Cinematic Vision Award, given to a feature-length
documentary with the best visual presentation of the story. The film's creator,
Lee Chung-ryul, will receive US$2,500 in cash and $4,000 of in-kind services from
motion picture laboratory Alpha Cine, Indie Story in Seoul said.
Co-sponsored by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel, this
year's Silverdocs featured 122 documentaries.
Winner of the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival, "Old Partner" attracted
nearly 3 million viewers at home last year, an unprecedented feat in a country
where local blockbusters and Hollywood movies have dominated for decades.
Receiving the Audience Award at the Seoul Independent Film Festival and invited
to overseas film festivals such as Sundance, Philadelphia and Sarasota, "Old
Partner" also won in May the Emerging Arts Award at the Hot Docs Canadian
International Documentary Festival, the biggest of its kind in North America.