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'No Other Choice,' 'The Ugly' lead Blue Dragon Film Awards nominations
Oct 29, 2025
- Source by The Korea Herald
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Park Chan-wook's dark comedy collects 12 nominations while Yeon Sang-ho's experimental whodunit earns 10 at Korea's premier fim awards
Movie posters for "No Other Choice" (left) and "The Ugly" (CJ ENM, PlusM Entertainment)
Park Chan-wook's satirical thriller "No Other Choice" swept up 12 nominations to lead the field for the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards, with Yeon Sang-ho's experimental microbudget whodunit "The Ugly" close behind with 10 nods, as South Korea's premier film awards announced their nominees Tuesday.
The nominations, determined through a combination of expert panel voting Oct.1-19 and online audience participation Oct. 2-19, set up a competitive race across 15 categories. The Blue Dragon Film Awards, which ran from 1963 to 1973 before resuming in 1990, stands alongside the Daejong Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards as one of the country's three major film honors.
"No Other Choice," starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, earned nominations across virtually every major category, including best picture, director, actor, actress and supporting actor. Park has previously won the directing award three times — for "JSA" (2000), "Oldboy" (2003), and "Decision to Leave" (2022), and a win this year would make him the only director to claim the honor four times.
His latest film earned a standing ovation at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and is South Korea's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
"No Other Choice" (CJ ENM/Moho Film)
Yeon's "The Ugly," which made its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September, secured nominations including best picture, director and actor for Park Jeong-min's dual role as both father and son. The "Train to Busan" director's latest centers on a documentary investigation into the decades-old disappearance of a mother told through a series of conflicting interviews.
"The Ugly" starring Park Jung-min (left) and Kwon Hae-hyo (PlusM Entertainment)
Rounding out the Best Picture nominees are period drama "Harbin," with eight nominations; zombie comedy "My Daughter Is a Zombie," this year's reigning box office champion at 5.6 million admissions, with six; and Berlinale-screened spy thriller "The Old Woman With the Knife," with five. Kang Hyeong-cheol's fantasy action comedy "Hi-Five" also earned six nominations despite missing out on the top prize category.
"My Daughter is a Zombie" starring Choi Yu-ri (left) and Jo Jung-seok (Next Entertainment World)
The best actor race features Park Jeong-min's dual performance in "The Ugly" against previous Blue Dragon winners Lee Byung-hun ("No Other Choice") and Sul Kyung-gu ("A Normal Family"), alongside Jo Jung-suk ("My Daughter Is a Zombie") and Hyun Bin ("Harbin"). Lee previously won the category twice for "Inside Men" (2016) and "Concrete Utopia" (2023).
Best actress nominees include Son Ye-jin ("No Other Choice"), Song Hye-kyo ("Dark Nuns"), Lee Jae-in ("Hi-Five"), Lee Hye-young ("The Old Woman With the Knife") and singer-actor Lim Yoona ("Pretty Crazy"). Recent winners in the category include Cho Yeo-jung for "Parasite" (2019), Tang Wei for "Decision to Leave" (2022) and Kim Go-eun for "Exhuma" (2024).
Lee Hye-young in "The Old Woman with the Knife" (Next Entertainment World)
The best director category features Park Chan-wook, Yeon Sang-ho, Min Kyu-dong ("The Old Woman With the Knife"), Woo Min-ho ("Harbin") and Pil Gam-seong ("My Daughter Is a Zombie").
The best new director category, which traditionally recognizes emerging indie and arthouse filmmakers, includes Kim Hye-young ("It's Okay, It's Okay, It's Okay!"), Park Jun-ho ("3670") and Jang Byung-ki ("After Summer Passes"). "3670," which follows a gay North Korean defector attempting to build a life in the South, also earned lead actor Cho Yoo-hyun a best new actor nomination.
"3670" starring Cho Yoo-hyun (Atnine Film)
Final voting opened Tuesday through the fan-voting app CelebChamp across 16 categories, with audience votes carrying equal weight to expert panel decisions. The ceremony will take place Nov. 19 at KBS Hall in Yeouido, Seoul.
By Moon Ki-hoon (The Korea Herald) (CLICK)
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