Kim Sun-young, shown in a scene from "Dream Palace," on April 5 won the award for Best Actress at the 20th Asian Film Festival held at Cinema Farnese in Rome for her role in the movie. (Korean Film Archive)

By Charles Audouin

Kim Sun-young on April 5 won the award for Best Actress at the 20th Asian Film Festival held at Cinema Farnese in Rome for her role in "Dream Palace."

Kim in the movie plays the protagonist Hye-jeong, who moves to a newly built apartment in a new town after losing her husband in an industrial accident. The debut work of director Ka Sung-moon, "Dream Palace" is about rising conflict among apartment residents due to a discount in their units as a result of faulty construction.

The festival's jury said it admired the heroine who did everything to win after abruptly losing hope for a new life and getting disillusioned, praising Kim for successfully leading the story of a woman carrying setbacks on her shoulders until the film's conclusion.

Kim is the second Korean in three years to win the award. Ko Doo-shim claimed it in 2021 for her role in "Everglow."

Launched in 2002 and marking its 20th anniversary this year, the event is held in Italian cities such as Rome. This year's edition ran from March 30 to April 5 and screened 32 Asian films.

The Korean Cultural Center in Rome on April 1 hosted the cinematic event "Korea Day" and screened "Dream Palace," "Gyeong-ah's Daughter" by director Kim Jung-eun, "Anchor" by director Jung Ji-yeon and "Call of God" by late director Kim Ki-duk.

Three Korean films were selected for the competition category, while "Call of God," a posthumous work by Kim, entered the non-competition. Also invited to the Venice Film Festival, the movie quickly saw all 180 seats sell out.

Chun Ye Jin, director of the KCC in Rome, accepted Kim's award on her behalf and said, "We're glad to introduce Korean films through 'Korea Day' at the Asian Film Festival," adding, "We'll try to provide opportunities to screen a diversity of Korean films so that Italians can enjoy a bigger variety of attention-getting Korean movies."

The cinematic event "Korea Day" on April 1 at the 20th Asian Film Festival opens at Cinema Farnese in Rome to screen four Korean movies. (Asian Film Festival's Facebook page)