'Sleep,' featuring late actor Lee Sun-kyun, wins top award at Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival

Director Jason Yu poses with the Grand Prix award during the closing ceremony of the 31st Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival held in Gérardmer, France, on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Last year's “Sleep,” one of the final films by late “Parasite” (2019) actor Lee Sun-kyun, won the top award at the Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival on Sunday.

Directed by Jason Yu, a protégé of Bong Joon-ho, “Sleep” tells the story of a newlywed couple played by Lee and actor Jung Yu-mi who face difficulties due to the husband’s disturbing sleeping habits. It received good reviews from critics and was invited to the Critics’ Week section at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival last year.

With “Sleep” and “Project Silence,” the latter of which has not been released yet, Lee had two films at last year’s Cannes. He died on Dec. 27.

The Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival started in 1994 and introduces sci-fi, horror and fantasy films. Among Korean films, director Kim Jee-woon’s 2003 film “A Tale of Two Sisters” won the Grand Prix at the 2004 edition of the festival.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]