# 59th Grand Bell Awards

The 59th Grand Bell Awards (Korean: 제59회 대종상 영화제; RR: Daejongsang Yeonghwajae), also known as Daejong International Film Awards, is determined and presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards were first presented in 1962 and have gained prestige as the Korean equivalent of the American Academy Awards. The 59th edition of the award ceremony was co-hosted with the Gyeonggi Arts Center for the first time at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater and Convention Hall on November 15, 2023. Cha In-pyo and Jang Do-yeon were master of ceremonies for the award night.
Concrete Utopia won six awards including three popular awards viz.: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and three technical awards viz.: Visual Effects, Sound Effects, and Art Awards.

## Judging panel

The judging panel consisted of 9 members:
* Jeong Sung-il, film critic
* Kim Hong-shin, novelist
* Won Dong-yeon, film producer
* Jo Hye-jeong, Chung-Ang University professor
* Kim Do-young, film director
* Park Jong-won, Korea National University of Arts professor
* Kim Sun-a, head of the Women's Filmmakers' Association
* Kang Kyung-ho, Kyonggi University professor
* Sung Joon-hyun, Theater Directors Association

## Nominations and winners

The Grand Bell Awards Committee selected the nominees for all domestic releases (including series) from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The nominations for best film were announced on October 20, and for the rest of categories on 24th.
(Winners denoted in bold)

### Film awards

| Best Film | Best Director |
| Concrete Utopia Cobweb Smugglers The Night Owl Next Sohee Sleep | Ryoo Seung-wan – Smugglers Kang Je-gyu – Road to Boston Um Tae-hwa – Concrete Utopia Kim Jee-woon – Cobweb Jung Ju-ri – Next Sohee Yim Soon-rye – The Point Men |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Lee Byung-hun – Concrete Utopia as Kim Yeong-tak Song Kang-ho – Cobweb as Kim Ki-yeol Ryu Jun-yeol – The Night Owl as Cheon Kyung-soo Doh Kyung-soo – The Moon as Hwang Sun-woo Im Si-wan – Road to Boston as Suh Yun-bok | Kim Seo-hyung – Green House Yum Jung-ah – Smugglers as Um Jin-sook Jung Yu-mi – Sleep as Jung Soo-jin Bae Doona – Next Sohee as Oh Yoo-jin Kim Sun-young – Dream Palace as Hye-jeong Yang Mal-bok – The Apartment with Two Women |
| Best Supporting Actor | Best Supporting Actress |
| Oh Jung-se – Cobweb as Kang Ho-se Kim Jong-soo – Smugglers as Lee Jang-chun Ko Kyu-pil – The Roundup: No Way Out as Cho Rong-i Park Jeong-min – Smugglers as Jang Do-ri Kang Ki-young – The Point Men | Kim Sun-young – Concrete Utopia as Kim Geum-ae Go Min-si – Smugglers as Go Ok-bun Na Moon-hee – Hero as Cho Maria Krystal Jung – Cobweb as Han Yu-rim Jeon Yeo-been – Cobweb as Shin Mi-do |
| Best New Actor | Best New Actress |
| Kim Seon-ho – The Childe as Nobleman (Gwigongja) Park Sung-hoon – Hail to Hell as Han Myeong-ho Lee Shin-young – Rebound as Cheon Ki-beom Kim Sung-cheol – The Night Owl as Crown Prince Sohyeon Byeon Woo-seok – Soulmate as Ham Jin-woo | Kim Si-eun – Next Sohee as So-hee Ahn Eun-jin – The Night Owl as Jo So-yong Im Jee-ho – The Apartment with Two Women Oh Woo-ri – Hail to Hell Moon Seung-a – The Hill of Secrets |
| Best New Director | Best Screenplay |
| Ahn Tae-jin – The Night Owl Lee Sol-hui – Green House Kim Se-in – The Apartment with Two Women Jason Yu – Sleep Lee Ji-eun – The Hill of Secrets Ka Sung-moon – Dream Palace | Ahn Tae-jin, Hyun Eun-mi– The Night Owl Um Tae-hwa, Lee Sin-ji – Concrete Utopia Shin Yeon-sick – Cobweb Jung Ju-ri – Next Sohee Jason Yu – Sleep Kim Se-in – The Apartment with Two Women |
| Best Music | Best Art Direction |
| Dalpalan – Phantom Chang Kiha – Smugglers Hwang Sang-jun – Hero Kim Hae-won – Concrete Utopia Mowg – Cobweb Jang Hyuk-jin, Jang Yong-jin – Sleep | Cho Hwa-sung, Choi Hyun-seouk – Concrete Utopia Shin Yu-jin – Killing Romance Jung Yi-jin – Cobweb Lee Hoo-kyoung – Smugglers Hong Ju-hui – The Moon Kim Bo-muk – Phantom |
| Best Cinematography | Best Visual Effects |
| Choi Young-hwan – Smugglers Kim Tae-kyeong – The Night Owl Kim Young-ho – The Moon Cho Hyoung-rae – Concrete Utopia Kim Tae-seong – Ransomed Kim Jee-yong – Cobweb | Eun Jae-hyun – Concrete Utopia Jin Jong-hyun – The Moon Park Sung-jin – Cobweb Noh Nam-seok – Ransomed Hwang Jin-hye, Kim Han-jun – Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman Heo Myeong-hoeng – Phantom |
| Best Sound | Best Costume Design |
| Kim Suk-won – Concrete Utopia Choi Tae-young – The Moon Park Yong-ki – The Night Owl Park Joo-Gang – Hero Gong Tae-won – Sleep Choi Tae-won – Cobweb | Yoon Jung-hee – Killing Romance Yoon Jung-hee, Kwon Soo-kyung – Smugglers Ham Hyun-ju – Phantom Choi Eui-young– Cobweb Chae Gyeong-hwa – Road to Boston Shim Hyun-seop – Hero Shim Hyun-seop – The Night Owl |
| Best Film Editing | Documentary Award |
| Kim Sun-min – The Night Owl Lee Gang-hee – Smugglers Yang Jin-mo – Cobweb Han Mi-yeon – Concrete Utopia Kim Chang-ju – Ransomed Lee Seon-min – Hero | Yang Young-hee – Soup and Ideology Go Hee-young – Legend of the Waterflowers Hwang Yoon – Sura: A Love Song Mario Lee – Little Garden Lee So-hyun – The Talent Show |
| Daejong's Attention Award (work) | Daejong's Attention Award (actor) |
| Dream Palace by Ka Sung-moon | Jung Sung-hwa in Hero |
| Daejong's Attention Award (director) | Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Park Jae-beom – Mother's Land: Grisha, Master of the Forest | Jang Mi-hee |

### Series awards

| Best Series | Best Director Series |
| Moving (Disney+) The Glory (Netflix) Mask Girl (Netflix) Big Bet (Disney+) | Kang Yoon-sung – Big Bet Lee Jong-pil – One Day Off Kim Yong-hun – Mask Girl Ahn Gil-ho – The Glory Park In-je, Park Yoon-seo – Moving |
| Best Actor in a Series | Best Actress in a Series |
| Choi Min-sik – Big Bet as Cha Mu-sik Ryu Seung-ryong – Moving as Jang Ju-won Jung Hae-in – D.P. Season 2 as Ahn Jun-ho Jin Seon-kyu – Bargain as Noh Hyung-soo Lee Sung-min – Shadow Detective as Kim Taek-rok Ahn Jae-hong – Mask Girl as Joo Oh-nam | Han Hyo-joo – Moving as Lee Mi-hyun Song Hye-kyo – The Glory as Moon Dong-eun Lee Na-young – One Day Off as Park Ha-kyung Go Hyun-jung – Mask Girl as Kim Mo-mi Jeon Jong-seo – Bargain as Park Joo-young Yeom Hye-ran – Mask Girl as Kim Kyung-ja |

## Films with multiple nominations

The following films received multiple nominations:
| Nominations | Films |
| 14 | Cobweb |
| 11 | Smugglers |
| 11 | Concrete Utopia |
| 10 | The Night Owl |
| 6 | Sleep |
| 5 | Hero |
| 5 | Next Sohee |
| 5 | The Moon |
| 4 | Phantom |
| 3 | Road to Boston |
| 3 | Ransomed |
| 3 | The Apartment with Two Women |
| 2 | The Point Men |
| 2 | Green House |
| 2 | Dream Palace |
| 2 | The Hill of Secrets |
| 2 | Killing Romance |
| 2 | Hail to Hell |