Busan film festival to posthumously honor ‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun

The Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s largest, will this year posthumously honor late South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun with the Korea Cinema Award, organizers said Friday.

Lee, best known globally for his starring role in Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” was found dead in an apparent suicide in December 2023 after a two-month police investigation over suspected drug use, sparking industry outcry and widespread public concern.

The festival’s Korea Cinema Award is “presented to filmmakers who have elevated the status of Korean cinema and contributed to its global growth,” BIFF organizers said in a statement.

This year, the award “will be given to the late actor Lee Sun-kyun, who won the hearts of both domestic and international film fans through his diverse works,” it said, adding the award ceremony will be held during the opening of the next BIFF on October 2.

This year’s festival will also feature a special screening of the actor’s six film and television works, including “Parasite”, “Our Sunhi” (2013) and a portion of TV series “My Mister” (2018).

The program also includes Lee’s last work, released posthumously, “Land of Happiness” (2024), in which the late actor played a military solider during South Korea’s authoritarian period in the 1970s.

A graduate of South Korea’s prestigious Korea National University of Arts, Lee had won acclaim for his performances in a variety of roles since his debut in the early 2000s, including a charismatic chef and a genius neuroscientist who is incapable of empathy.

Lee received widespread critical acclaim for his performance in the 2018 TV drama series “My Mister”, for his portrayal of a diligent architectural engineer, while globally, he is best known for his role as the wealthy and shallow patriarch in Bong’s “Parasite.”

“We aim to reflect on the acting career and achievements of the late actor Lee, … who has represented South Korea through his … profound performances, while also creating a meaningful memorial space,” BIFF said.

Following Lee’s death, a police officer has come under investigation for allegedly leaking confidential details of Lee’s case, which critics claim led to intense mainstream media coverage and a surge of damaging and unverified videos on social media platforms like YouTube.

Previous winners of the Korea Cinema Award include late South Korean acclaimed actress Yoon Jeong-hee, French film critic Charles Tesson and Goran Topalovic, the co-founder of the New York Asian Film Festival.

This year’s BIFF will be held in South Korea’s port city of Busan from Oct 2 to 11th.