"I Saw the Devil" awarded top prize at film fest in Spain

Movie poster of thriller "I Saw the Devil" [Showbox]

Korean thriller "I Saw the Devil" was awarded the top prize at the 17th annual FANT-Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival over the weekend, according to the official website of the fest on Monday.

"Devil," helmed by famed Korean auteur Kim Jee-woon, beat out other international films including director Park Chan-wook's "Thirst" under the official selection for the jury award for best feature film at the fest held in the city of Bilbao of Spain starting from May 2 to 8.

The jury of the official selection considered "I Saw the Devil" as "daring and courageous" and "interesting" in the method of how the movie was shot by director Kim.

"Devil," starring Lee Byung-hun who plays a secret agent who plots revenge against a serial killer played by Choi Min-sik, has garnered much attention from both fans in Korea and overseas.

Since opening in local theaters on August 12 last year, the pic has attracted over 1.2 million moviegoers which amounts to a gross of about 9.3 billion Korean won.

The films was pre-sold to France, England Taiwan and Turkey during the Cannes film market in May and has also been invited to this year's Toronto International Film Festival under the Special Presentations category, which recognizes major films from famous directors.

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Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@