Lee Soon-jae wins best actor award at Chinese film fest

Poster for "Late Blossoms" [NEW]

Korean veteran actor Lee Soon-jae has won the award for best actor at a Chinese film festival for his role in the movie "Late Blossom," according to a press release from the film's promoter NEW on Friday.

NEW announced that Lee received the best actor award under the international film category for "Late Blossom" at the 2011 Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival which took place in Hefei from October 19 to 22.

"The win was unexpected and it feels great to know that 'Late Blossom' has been received well amongst audience and the film industry overseas," Lee was quoted as saying.

He added, "It is extremely meaningful to accept an award at an international film festival when I thought it would be difficult to win an award for starring in a drama."

"Late Blossom," based on the cartoon by Kangfull and helmed by Choo Chang-min, follows the story of two elderly couples who live in the same neighborhood. Kim Man-suk (Lee), who delivers milk at dawn, starts to fall for Ms. Song (Yun So-jeong) while Jang Kun-bong (Song Jae-ho) cares for his wife (Kim Soo-mi) who suffers from Alzheimer's.

The movie, which opened in local theaters on February 17, was also invited to several film festivals including this year's Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) and Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

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