Here are the nominees for this year's Baeksang Arts Awards

Movies

Published: 09 Apr. 2024, 18:05 Updated: 11 Apr. 2024, 18:21

Here are the nominees for this year's Baeksang Arts Awards

The 60th Baeksang Arts Awards will be held at Coex starting from 5 p.m. on May 7. It will be broadcast live on cable channels JTBC, JTBC2 and JTBC4. [BAEKSANG ARTS AWARDS]

The nominees for this year’s Baeksang Arts Awards have been announced, representing the best of Korean film, television and theater produced over the last year.

Video and theater works that were released in Korea between April 1, 2023, and March 31 this year were reviewed. Dramas and films included those that aired on television and also on online streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

Television

This year’s Best Drama nominations spanned a variety of genres to include period dramas, comedy, romance and fantasy. The nominees, all of which premiered and ended last year, are: JTBC’s “The Good Bad Mother,” Disney+’s “Moving,” MBC’s “My Dearest,” SBS’s “Revenant” and Netflix’s “Daily Dose of Sunshine.”

Pictured is actor Kim Soo-hyun in the tvN drama series "Queen of Tears." Kim, who returned to the small screen after three years, clenched a Best Actor nomination with his role as an agitated son-in-law to a wealthy family. [TVN]

Nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress are filled with fan favorites from Korea’s most popular drama series this year.

Actor Kim Soo-hyun, who returned to the small screen after three years with tvN’s “Queen of Tears,” clenched a Best Actor nomination with his role as an agitated son-in-law to a wealthy family. Also nominated are Ryu Seung-ryong with his tear-jerking role of husband, father and fighter in Disney+’s “Moving,” as well as Namkoong Min for his lead role in MBC’s “My Dearest,” Yoo Yeon-seok as the lead in Tving’s “A Bloody Lucky Day,” and Im Si-wan as the lead in Coupang Play’s “Boyhood.”

Pictured is actor Ra Mi-ran in JTBC series ″The Good Bad Mother" (2023). Ra, who played the lead role of a single mother running a pig farm, was nominated for Best Actress at the upcoming Baeksang Arts Awards. [JTBC]

Best Actress nominees include actor Ra Mi-ran, who made viewers laugh and cry with her role as a single mother running a pig farm in JTBC’s “The Good Bad Mother.” The series was one of the highest-rated series in Korean cable-television history, and set a record for being JTBC’s highest rated Wednesday-Thursday drama. Also on the list are Lee Ha-nee, who played a Robin Hood-esque widow in MBC’s “Knight Flower”; Ahn Eun-jin in MBC’s “My Dearest”; Uhm Jung-hwa in JTBC’s “Doctor Cha”; and Lim Ji-yeon for her role in Genie TV’s “Lies Hidden in My Garden.”

The nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress are no less impressive. Candidates for Best Supporting Actor include Ahn Jae-hong, with his unforgettable role as a traumatized loser in Netflix’s “Mask Girl.” Veteran actors Shin Dong-mi, Kang Mal-geum, Yeom Hye-ran and Lee Jung-eun were also nominated for their supporting acting roles.

Scene from SBS Plus and ENA's dating reality show ″I am Solo″ [SBS PLUS, ENA]

The TV categories for entertainment programs and variety entertainers saw more candidates from streaming platforms and web series, in a break from the traditional broadcasting mold. The Baeksang Arts Awards last year expanded the eligibility criteria for the TV entertainment category to include web series and their creators.

This year’s nominees for Best Entertainment Program are: SBS Plus and ENA’s “I am Solo” (2021-), Wavve’s “The Community,” JTBC’s “A Clean Sweep” (2022-), MBC’s “Adventure by Accident 2” (2023) and web series “Pinggyego,” which is uploaded to talent agency Antenna’s DdeunDdeun YouTube channel.

The entertainer candidates this year also saw a variety of occupations other than comedians, including webtoonists Kian84 and Lee Mal-nyeon, producer Na Young-seok and model and entrepreneur Hong Jin-kyung.

Scene from the occult horror film ″Exhuma″ [SHOWBOX]

Film

Independent films and blockbusters alike enamored viewers through the silver screen last year.

Mystery horror film “Exhuma” scored the most nominations at this year’s awards, in a total of eight categories. These include nominations for Best Film; Best Director and Best Screenplay nods for Jang Jae-hyun; and nominations for all of the film’s main cast: Choi Min-sik for Best Actor, Kim Go-eun for Best Actress, Ryu Hae-jin for Best Supporting Actor and Lee Do-hyun for Best New Actor.

“12.12: The Day,” a historical action drama based on actual events surrounding Chun Doo-hwan’s military coup on Dec. 12, 1979, is also a hefty contender. The film will compete for seven categories including for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film’s two leads, Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung, will contend for Best Actor.

Scene from black comedy film ″Cobweb″ (2023) [BARUNSON E&A]

Nominations didn't just go to the blockbusters: Black comedy film “Cobweb” starring Song Kang-ho, Lim Soo-jung and Krystal Jung was nominated for Best Film, and directorial debuts including Yoo Jae-sun’s “Sleep” (2023) starring the late Lee Sun-kyun and Lee Jeong-hong’s “A Wild Roomer” (2022) will also be highlighted this year.

A scene from theater production ″Waiting for Godot," directed by Kim Poong-nyun [PARK COMPANY]

Theater

The theater category welcomes its sixth year since its revival in 2019. Excellence in theater will be celebrated in three categories, the same as last year: Baeksang Theater, Best Acting, which nominates both male and female cast members, and Best Newcomer.

For the Baeksang Theater award, in which nominations are made for the best groups, theater works and people, the contenders are: the production “Waiting for Godot,” directed by Kim Poong-nyun; “Cost of Living” directed by Jung Ji-su; theater troupe Miin for their work in “To My Son” (translated); and theater troupe Sansuyu for their work in “Forest” (translated).

The full list of nominations for all divisions can be seen on the Baeksang Arts Awards’ website.

This year’s ceremony, the 60th of its kind, will be held at Coex starting from 5 p.m. on May 7. It will be broadcast live on cable channels JTBC, JTBC2 and JTBC4.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]