A Round-Up Of Awards Achieved By Bong Joon Ho’s Film “Parasite”

The phenomenal South Korean thrilling black comedy Parasite swept various awards from numerous film festivals and award-giving bodies around the globe

Director Bong Joon Ho’s phenomenal black-comic thriller movie Parasite bags a total of 59 awards in 58 film film festivals and award-giving bodies.

Cannes Film Festival

Beginning its sward-sweeping spree, Parasite attained the highest prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious film award, South Korea’s first Palme d’Or rippled celebration from its creators, actors and film enthusiasts in May 2019.

In his acceptance speech, he revealed that he did not expect to win the prestigious award but is truly honored and amazed at the same time.

The 2019 Cannes Film Festival took place at the Grand Théâtre Lumière where artists and films from different perspectives convened.

• South Korean Film “Parasite” Achieves 2019 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or

Sydney Film Festival

A month later, Parasite claimed the Sydney Film Prize, considered as the top prize at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival. The said award is given to the year’s most ‘audacious, cutting-edge and courageous film’.

Locarno International Film Festival

Meanwhile, Actor Song Kang Ho, who portrayed the father role of the impoverished and inferior family in the film, got the Excellence Award  on 12 August 2019 at at the 2019 Locarno International Film Festival held in Piazza Grande Switzerland.

Calgary International Film Festival

On top of that, Parasite successfully notched the 2019 Calgary International Film Festival’s Fan Favorite Award. Held in Canada, the film gained the best score in each category as decided by the public ballots cast at the end of each screening. The sold-out screenings amidst the snowstorm proved its popularity in the area.

Photo Credit: Calgary Film Festival

4oth Blue Dragon Film Awards

Celebrated overseas, the accomplishments of Parasite also notched impressive result domestically. It reaped several awards at the 4oth Blue Dragon Film Awards. Film Director Bong Joon Ho won the title of Best Director.  Cho Yeo Jeong which was hailed as the Best Actress while Lee Jung Eun secured the Best Supporting Actress award. Bringing more honor to the team, Lee Ha Joon earned the award for Best Art Direction.

Image credit: Sports Chosun

Slemani International Film Festival

The record-breaking movie also received various awards and recognition in numerous festivals and award-giving bodies. This includes Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq by which Director Bong Joon Ho and Producer Han Jin Won received the Silver Pine Award.

Toronto Film Critics Association

Thereafter, the 2019 Toronto Film Critics Association declared the film as recipient of Best Picture and Best Foreign Film. The title Best Director was also awarded to Director Bong Joon Ho.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

Concurrently, the film critics association in Los Angeles awarded Parasite with three trophies.   At the 45th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2019, the film respectively won as the Best Film. Director Bong Joon Ho deservedly received the title of Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Song Kang Ho.

Chicago’s Film Critics Association

The award-winning movie also took over the North America. In the previous year, Chicago’s Film Critics recognized the renowned film director Bong Joon Ho as the Best Director for his movie Parasite. The Chicago Film Critics Association supports and celebrates Parasite’s presentation classism and capitalism. It became the recipient of three essential awards: Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay.

(Photo Credit: CJ ENM)

77^th Golden Globe Awards

Parasite received three nods at the 77^th Golden Globe Awards. It includes Best Motion Picture (Foreign Language Film), Best Director for Bong Joon Ho and Best Screenplay. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 2020 Golden Globes took place on 5 January 2020 at the Beverly Hilton.

The movie had three nominations – Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Foreign Language Film. Notably, it is seldom for a foreign film to be nominated under three categories which marks another historical event.

• “Parasite” Wins Best Picture For Foreign Language Film At The “77th Golden Globe Awards”

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Furthermore, at the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards that took place in California, Parasite became the first foreign language film to take the top honor of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. SAG Awards is one of Hollywood’s huge three major film award giving bodies, alongside the Golden Globes and the Oscars. The award given “focused on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture.”

Writers Guild Awards

Besting other outstanding screenplay nominees at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards, Parasite won the Best Original Screenplay. Screenwriter Han Jin Won represented the Parasite’s whole production crew and received the trophy at the awards ceremony with an amusing acceptance speech.

Watch the acceptance speech below:

British Academy Film Awards

Adding to its long trail of nominations and awards is the feat achieved at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). The South Korean dark comedy thriller earned the Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Not in the English Language. It was Britain’s most prestigious film awards ceremony that took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 2 February 2020.

Academy Awards

Parasite dominated the 2020 edition of Oscars by winning four major awards. It made history in the South Korean film industry 9 February 2020. The film won the 92nd Academy Awards‘ Best Picture category. It achieved the coveted prize and became the first ever foreign-language film to win Best Picture in the Oscars.

Once again, the film made another huge achievement as Director Bong Joon Ho was given the Oscar for Best Director. Director Bong historically become the first South Korean director to attain the enormous award.

Out of six nominated awards, Parasite won four awards at the esteemed ceremony. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Directing, Film Editing, Production Design, and International Feature Film. Moreover, Parasite is the first ever Korean movie to be nominated for these awards.

• “Parasite” Makes History As The First Oscar Best Picture Awardee For South Korea

Blessed with numerous awards from various film festivals and award-giving bodies, Parasite transcended into international scene and boundless borders. Further proving that language is not a barrier for conveying one’s freedom of expression even through art.

Watch the Parasite cast ensemble accepts the historical Best Picture trophy on Oscars Awards .

Source: The Korea Herald | Oscar’s 2020