Winner, Best Performance By An Actress, 2009
Kim Hye-ja is the star of The Rustic Diary, one of the longest running and most beloved television series in Korean history (1980 – 2002). Her numerous television credits include Mom’s Dead Upset (2008), Chief Hong’s Autumn (2004) and Rose and the Beanstalk (1999). Her role in the 1982 feature film, Late Autumn, saw her receive the Best Actress award at the Manila Film Festival. For most Koreans, Kim Hye-ja is an icon of motherhood and its virtues, but Bong Joon-ho, the writer-director of Mother, saw another facet to the actress. He conceived the story of Mother to capture her little recognised psychological intensity and to illuminate the unseen power in the destructive side of her personality. With this film, the veteran actress has completely subverted the almost sacred maternal image she helped construct over the last 30 years and Bong Joon-ho has crafted the role of a lifetime for a great actress who has devoted her life to the craft.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
