Among a host of quality international contenders, NA Young-kil’s film Hosanna picked up the Golden Bear for Short film at Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday night. It was the second time a Korean film won the award in the last five years, following the 2011 win by Night Fishing, from directors PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong. Meanwhile, the Golden Bear for feature films was earned by Jafar PANAHI’s Taxi.

 

A graduation work from the Korea National University of Arts (K’Arts), Hosanna tells the story of a young boy in the countryside with special powers that can bring people back from the dead. Though he uses his gift to help those around him, rather than thanks, he receives only scorn from them as they shuffle back into their miserable lives and the cycle of death and violence continues. NA’s 25-minute film debuted at the Jeonju International Film Festival last year and also screened at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival this month.

 

Hosanna was the only Korean winner at Berlin this year, among eight films screened across its various lineups. Last year, YOON Ga-eun’s film Sprout picked up the Crystal Bear for Short Film while the documentaries A Dream of Iron by Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK and Non Fiction Diary by JUNG Yoon-suk shared the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film. The 65th Berlinale took place over February 5th to 15th.