Actor Kim Kang-woo Wins in Turin

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Actor Kim Kang-woo won the Best Actor award for his role in "The Railroad" (Gyeonguiseon) at the 25th Torino Film Festival in Italy, Saturday.

"The Railroad", directed by Park Heung-shik, also won a special award given by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).

Kim's agency Namoo Actors quoted the 29-year old actor as saying: "I'm very glad to have received this big award, but what I cannot forget is the response from the audience". He was referring to the screening of "The Railroad, which was attended by 500 people at the film festival last week.

"As I saw the audience squeeze into the seats, laughing and crying along with the movie, I realized that movie allows people to communicate regardless of borders", Kim said.

"The Railroad" is about two lost souls (played by Kim and actress Son Tae-yeong), who find themselves stranded at the last railroad stop before the Demilitarized Zone on a snowy night. As they spend the night together, they learn to reveal their inner pain to each other.

The 45-year old Park, who also wrote the screenplay for "The Railroad", received favorable reviews for his debut film "The Twins" in 2004. "The Railroad", his second film, premiered at the 11th Pusan International Film Festival last October.

Kim recently starred in the hit film "Le Grand Chef", and previously appeared in such films as "The War Of Flower" and "Silmido".

The Torino Film Festival, which ran from Nov. 23 to Dec. 1, is a low-key event compared to the Venice International Film Festival. It focuses on independent and art-house movies.
The festival's main section, International Feature Film competition, is dedicated to discovering new cinematic talent. This year, 15 films from France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Latvia, South Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, United States, Canada and Australia were screened.

Chinese-American actress Joan Chen won Best Actress for her role in the Australian film "The Home Song Stories". Best Film award was given to "Garage" by Lenny Abrahamson from Ireland.