Korean pics nab wins at Portugal's Fantasporto

Film "I Saw the Devil" [Showbox]

Several Korean films won awards at this year's Oporto International Film Festival (Fantasporto) in Portugal, including “I Saw the Devil” (2010) that grabbed the award for best director over the weekend.

According to the official website of the Fantasporto, “I Saw the Devil” directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Hallyu star Lee Byung-hun which portrayed a bloody revenge of a secret agent against a serial killer who killed his fiancee, won the prize for best director by the Jury of the Official Fantasy Section and trophy for best film by the Jury of the Orient Express.

Actress Seo Young-hee from Korean film “Bedevilled” (2010) took the crown for best actress in the Oriental Express section.

The film directed by Jang Cheol-soo is about a serial murder that occurs on a small island against the backdrop of a plight of one woman who has been harassed by her family and ignored by neighbors.

Korea’s famed director Im Sang-soo’s erotic thriller “The Housemaid," (2010) which is a remake of the classic 1960s film about a young housemaid who begins to have an affair with the master, won three trophies under the category of Directors Week: Manoel de Oliveira Award for Best Film, Best Actor award (Lee Jung-jae) and Best Actress award (Jeon Do-youn).

The film “Enemy at the Dead End” (2010) directed by Park Soo-young and starring Yu Hae-jin and Cheon Ho-jin, won the Special Jury Award in the Orient Express Section

Meanwhile the Grand Prix award for Fantasporto 2011 went to the Dutch film director Elbert Van Strien's “Two Eyes Staring” (2010).

The latest film festival which ran from February 21 to March 6 is considered one of the biggest fantastic film festivals in the world alongside Sitges Film Festival of Spain and Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films in Belgium, which took off in Porto, Portugal in 1982.

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