"The Fortress" Production Company CEO Disputes Daejong Film Awards's Official Statement

The 55th Daejong Film Awards was broadcast on October 22 and “The Fortress” was chosen as the winner of “Best Soundtrack,” “Best Lighting,” and “Best Cinematography.”

Confusion arose when trot singer Han Sarang accepted the award on behalf of Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto for “Best Soundtrack” and it was later revealed that “Best Lighting” award wasn’t delivered to “The Fortress.”

In response to the controversy, the 55th Daejong Film Awards released an official statement detailing how the Korean Movie Actor Association was unable to get in touch with the film’s production company and thus other people were chosen to receive the award on the film’s behalf based on recommendation by the Korean Film and Music Association and Korean Society of Cinematographers.

On October 23, CEO Kim Ji Yeon of the film’s production company Siren Pictures released a statement refuting the one given by the 55th Daejong Film Awards. The statement is as follows:

“Hello. This is Siren Pictures CEO Kim Ji Yeon.

“I want to give an official statement about the statement by the organizers of the Daejong Film Awards that was held on October 22, and give our official statement as the production company of ‘The Fortress.’ On October 22, I attended the awards ceremony as a nominee for Best Picture.

“‘The Fortress’ was chosen for 10 nominations at this year’s Daejong Film Awards and production company Siren Pictures communicated back and forth with the organizers of the Daejong Film Awards before the award ceremony was held regarding the attendance of the nominees.

“Besides I, who was attending as a Best Picture nominee, the organizers said that they would directly be contacting the nominees of other categories, so I gave their contact information to the organizers of the Daejong Film Awards. After this, I was never informed by the Daejong Film Awards organizers about the attendance of the nominees and who was going to be accepting the awards on their behalf. Right before attending the ceremony, I learned that no other nominees would be attending and thought that if ‘The Fortress’ was to be named as the winner of other awards besides Best Picture, then I would be the one to accept the award as the only attendee and production company CEO following the usual film award procedures. I was never contacted about a substitute who would be receiving the award and wasn’t told an explanation on the day of the awards.

“I don’t have any thoughts of criticizing Daejong Film Awards’ internal method of choosing substitutes to receive awards in the case that the recipients are absent. However, as a film producer, the method of someone receiving the award on their behalf who aren’t at all related to the film and doesn’t even know the award recipient is confusing.

“Finally, I’m expressing regret over the fact that the Daejong Film Award organizers said that this all happened because they could not get in touch with the production company up until the very last moment. As a Best Picture nominee, I definitely expressed my attendance beforehand to the organizers of the event.

“Also, we communicated back and forth up until I attended the awards ceremony as needed and have records of text messages I exchanged with the Daejong Film Awards organizers on Saturday about my red carpet attendance. However, during this process, I was never informed about the process of a substitute accepting the awards.

“Please think once again about how I was able to receive a seating list and parking ticket to attend the award ceremony if you were unable to get in contact with me. I express regret about this incident as a person of the film industry and as a producer who attended the ceremony with a joyful heart as a nominee, and hope that the Daejong Film Awards can improve from here on out.”

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