Seoul International Drama Awards 2013

Award season is upon us yet again, as the 2013 Seoul International Drama Awards (SDA) kicked off September 5th, at the National Theater of Korea. The SDA is considered to be a festival for production professionals and the general public, as nominees of the SDA were each submitted by entry.

Launched in 2006, this year marks the 8th annual SDA with an even larger international following than previous years. With a record breaking 225 entries submitted from 48 countries, the list was painstakingly cut down to 39 nominees. Below you'll find the ceremony's lucky winners.

---

One top-notch program among all nominees of TV Movie, Mini-series, Serial and Series is awarded

Stand-alone made-for-television film that has a distinct beginning, middle and end with between one (1) and two (2) episodes.

                            Golden Bird Prize                                                          Silver Bird Prize

                 The Jewish Cardinal (France)                              Welcome and...Our Condolences (Israel)
                [Award accepted by producer Joey Fare]                                    [Award accepted by Director/screenwriter Leon Prudovsky]

Drama that has a distinct beginning, middle and end with between three (3) and twelve (12) episodes.

                            Golden Bird Prize                                                         Silver Bird Prize

                   Generation War (Germany)                                          The Half Brother (Norway)
                  [Award accepted by Markus Halzelmann]                                            [Award accepted by director Per-Olav Soresen]

Drama that consists of more than twelve (12) episodes. It has an ongoing storyline which unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. (e.g. telenovela and soap opera)

                             Golden Bird Prize                                                          Silver Bird Prize

                       Grand Hotel 2 (Spain)                                              The Chaser (South Korea)
                  [Award accepted by director Silvia Quer Sabate]                                          [Award accepted by actor Son Hyun Joo]

Based solely on the Organizing Committee’s choice, two (2) drama productions contributing most to cross-cultural exchange are awarded.

                Hello, New York (Kyrgyzstan)                                     The Perfect Day (South Korea)

One (1) foreign drama that has been most viewed and talked about in Korea from January 2012 through the first half of 2013 is awarded.

---

        Philipp Kadelbach (Generation War/Germany)            Lars Lundstrom (Real Humans/Sweden)
          [Markus Halzelmann accepted the award on Kadelbach's behalf]

                    
             Lee Moon Shik (Sanggwon/South Korea)                           Lucy Liu (Elementary/USA)

By combination of online voting hosted by Soompi on July 4th-31st (70%) and SDA Organizing Committee's evaluation (30%), the top 4 individuals from Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea respectively are awarded for their individual performances.

             Nicky Wu                         Ya Chi Hsu                       Ren Kiriyama                          Yunho
   (The Chinese Detective)       (Are You Christine?)                 (Switch Girl 2)                       (Yawang)
               China                                Taiwan                                Japan                             South Korea

---

Korean dramas that have been exported to more than 15 countries or have made more than 3 million dollars of exports during the past year (Sept. 2012-Present). A total of 13 dramas competed for the category and the winner was selected by result of online voting through Soompi (70%) and SDA Organizing Committee's evaluation (30%). The nominees were:
-Big (KBS)                                          -Innocent Man (KBS2)                        -Fashion King (SBS)
-Gu Family Book (MBC)                       -Arang and the Magistrate (MBC)       -The Incarnation of Money (SBS)
-That Winter, The Wind Blows (SBS)    -Dream High 2 (KBS2)                       -Queen of Ambition (SBS)
-Seo Young, My Daughter (KBS)            -Horse Doctor (MBC)
-Dr. Jin (MBC)                                     -To the Beautiful You (SBS)

                                Golden Bird Prize                                                    Silver Bird Prize

                   Arang and the Magistrate                                                                Yawang
                    [Award accepted by director Kim Sang Ho]                                                     [Award accepted by director Cho Young Kwang]

The Process of selecting winners was done in the exact online voting and evaluation manner as the Outstanding Korean Drama and People's Choice categories. See Nominees here.

                            Lee Jun Ki                                                                        Bae Suzy
                (Arang and the Magistrate)                                                     (Gu Family Book)

The best theme song of Korean drama was selected through the results of online voting at Daum's music page. The most popular 26 songs from the 13 dramas nominated for the Outstanding Korean Drama Prize competed to be the winner. See the complete list of nominees here at Daum.