MBC hosted its awards ceremony for the 2008 Acting Awards on December 30. Let me first reiterate that I think these end-of-year broadcast-station awards are mostly meaningless. That said, this year’s Daesangs were TOTAL WEAKSAUCE, MBC. Top honor (the “Daesang” grand prize) went to…

Oh, you mean it was split this year? Between Beethoven Virus’s much-lauded epitome of awesomeness, Kim Myung-min, and East of Eden’s overblown and overrated Song Seung-heon?? I mean, I could understand going for the sentimental vote and awarding deceased Choi Jin-shil (she got a lifetime achievement instead), but Song Seung-heon winning acting awards is in itself a joke.

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I foresee this may start getting repetitive, but here’s another red carpet from the Pusan International Film Festival (we saw opening night’s red carpet yesterday).

This time, the event was the Asian Pacific Actors Network (APAN) Star Road. It seemed some of the stars who were at opening night were noticeably absent at this event, most likely because they traveled back to Seoul to pay their respects to Choi Jin-shil.

Pics beyond the jump.

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It’s kind of unnerving how all the news right now is either Choi Jin-shil’s sudden death or the 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), and sometimes while looking through the news listings, it’s easy to confuse the two based on the thumbnail images. (Given the timing, as far as I can see, there were no overlaps in attendees — or at least, very few — between PIFF and Choi Jin-shil’s funeral viewing.)

October 2 saw the opening night to the nine-day festival; PIFF closes on October 10 and is the largest film festival in Korea, and one of the largest in Asia. Over the course of the week, more than 300 films will be screened from 60-plus countries.

Kim Rae-won and Han Eun-jung, above, came as brand models for PIFF sponsor L’Oreal. Other famous name actors showed up to the red carpet night; the opening film was Kazakhstan’s The Gift to Stalin, as well as the Hyun Bin & Lee Bo-young film I Am Happy.

PIFF’s red carpet >>

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After all the hullaballo, Kwon Sang-woo finally married Sohn Tae-young today (September 28), and I for one am glad, since we won’t be having to hear about it anymore.

The couple gave a press conference prior to the wedding, as the wedding itself was closed to the press. Sohn Tae-young wore a Kenneth Pool gown, which she bought on the couple’s recent trip to England.

Kwon: “I’m finally getting married. I’m so nervous — my nerves don’t begin to compare with any film festival or event I’ve been to. … We’ll live happily together. I vow to love her forever.” Sohn: “It doesn’t feel real yet. Actually, I wasn’t nervous at all while getting ready. But now I’m starting to feel it.”

When asked about kids, Kwon answered that he’d like three, but joked that Sohn “has agreed to two, for her figure’s sake.”

And, since it’s not every day such a huge Hallyu star gets married, we have a pretty impressive guest-star roster that rivals the red carpet at some of the largest industry events.

The parade of high-profile attendees >>

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While I wouldn’t call the 4th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF 2008) a star-studded event, it had its share of famous faces sprinkled in amongst the packed crowd of festival attendees, including promo reps Lee Jung-jin and Lee Yeon-hee, above, who hosted the opening ceremony on the evening of August 14.

Also attending the festival are Korean directors Lim Kwon-taek, Lee Joon-ik, Heo Jin-ho, Park Heung-shik, Kim Sang-woo and others. International guests include director Claire Pijman from the Netherlands (Talking Guitars), American animator Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), German director Martin Walz (Melodies of Spring), Morocco’s Ahmed El Maanouni (Burned Hearts), Hong Kong’s Pang Ho-cheung, and more.

Following the opening ceremony, the festival kicked off with a screening of British filmmaker Stephen Walker’s Young@Heart, the acclaimed documentary about senior citizens singing rock and pop songs as a part of the Young at Heart Chorus.

JIMFF will screen films from 30 countries — features, documentaries, shorts, animation, and others — including a new section on films featuring world music. The festival takes place over the next six days in the city of Jecheon in scenic Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong province), and closes on August 19.

 
Top row: Lee Jung-jin and Lee Yeon-hee
Middle row: Yoo Ji-tae, Lee Yeon-hee, Kim Tae-woo with Eom Ji-won, Eom Ji-won, Ahn Sung-ki with Kang Soo-yeon

Via OSEN, Newsis

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