The Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee announced the final winners of the SDA 2014. The ceremony was held at the National Theater of Korea, September 4, and televised live on SBS for 120 minutes.
Scarlett Production’s Kaboul Kitchen S2 from France became the Grand Prize winner at the Seoul International Drama Awards 2014, where the most outstanding TV fiction productions and talented individuals of the year were recognized and awarded. It’s the first time ever that France has received the Grand Prize.
Grand Prize winner Kaboul Kitchen S2 was highly praised for its originality, creativity, and popularity by the judging panels. In 2012, the first season only made it to the finalist for the same Mini-series Category. In Kaboul Kitchen S2, the main character Jacky, who was taken hostage for three months, decides to remain in Kaboul even after he was released from captivity in the understanding that he would spy for the CIA and have his local restaurant, damaged from the riots, rebuilt. The series received much acclaim and credit for highlighting the unique qualities of a French drama and covering a heavy subject matter of terrorism with humor.
Well-made dramas from all corners of the world were selected for best TV Movie, Mini-series, and Serial Drama categories. For TV Movie, composed of 1-2 episodes, Spain’s Barefoot on Red Soil won the Golden Bird Prize and Sweden’s The Fat & The Angry won the Silver Bird prize. For Mini-series Category that consists of 3 to 24 episodes, Norway’s Mammon won the Golden Bird prize and KBS’ Good Doctor won the Silver Bird prize after going through a heated competition. Also, for Serial Drama, with more than 25 episodes, MBC’s Empress Ki won the Golden Bird prize and Turkey’s Medcezir won the Silver Bird prize.
For the Individual Category given to directors, writers, actors, and actresses, a couple of multiple prize-winning dramas are noticeable. Mammon won the Mini-series Golden Bird prize and director Cecilie Mosli won Best Director. Also, Maria Jaen, writer of Barefoot on Red Soil, received Best Screenwriter and the program itself also won the Golden Bird prize for TV Movie.
Edgar Selge, the respected German actor who captivates audiences with his superior acting across a wide range of genres and characters, won Best Actor for A Blind Hero – The Love of Otto Weidt. Hee-ae Kim, who created a sensation playing a drastic and melodramatic character who falls in love with a 20-year-old piano prodigy in An Affair, won Best Actress.
For Outstanding Korean Drama Prize Category, My Love from the Star swept 3 awards: Excellent Korean Drama, Outstanding Korean Actor (Soo-hyun Kim) and Outstanding Korean Drama OST (Lyn’s My Destiny). Meanwhile, SBS’ The Inheritors was awarded Outstanding Korean Drama after My Love from the Star.
Online voting for People’s Choice was cast from July 14 to August 3. Soo-hyun Kim from My Love from the Star, Ge Hu from China’s Life Revelation, and Yuan-chang Zheng from Taiwan’s Love Actually won People’s Choice. Especially, Yuan-chang Zheng is known for his work with a Korean actress Da-hye Lee in the drama.
Sri Lanka’s Baby Cans and Japan’s Galileo S2 won Special Prizes. These two dramas were chosen by the juries and the SDA Organising Committee in recognition of their contribution to introducing cultural diversity and authenticity.
Also, England’s Sherlock S3 was awarded The Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year for its continuous reputation and popularity among the worldwide fans.
Seoul International Drama Awards 2014
The Seoul International Drama Awards, celebrating its 9th anniversary, selected the final winners from 209 entries from 50 countries. The overall quality and level of the submissions has improved each year with high-caliber productions made from various regions. Sung-rok Shin and Se-yeon Jin were the hosts and Sistar, Lyn, Block B and B1A4 performed throughout the ceremony, thus enhancing the festive atmosphere.
