South Korean actress Kim Min-hee has won the Best Performance Award at the 79th Locarno International Film Festival for Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, directed by Hong Sang-soo. She plays a woman who reconnects with her estranged mother on Jeju Island after 10 years. The 44-year-old actress wins the award on her comeback project since she herself became a mother. It also marks her second Best Performance win at Locarno in two years. She shared this year’s gender-neutral acting award with Italian star Monica Bellucci, as the festival has forgone separate Best Actor and Best Actress categories.
Kim Min-hee becomes the first Korean actress to win acting awards at three International A-category film festivals, having also won Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin International Film Festival in 2017. All three came from films directed by Hong Sang-soo whom she now works with exclusively since backlash about their relationship. They were previously caught in a scandal in 2016 over their affair as director Hong Sang-soo, who is 22 years her senior was a married man. He still remains legally married today after not being granted divorce though the couple have now been together for nearly 11 years. Kim Min-hee gave birth to their first child, a son, on April 8, 2025.
Kim Min-hee’s latest victory was followed by another major win for Hong Sang-soo, who received the Best Director award for Nowhere to Lay My Eyes. The film also received the Ecumenical Jury Award, bringing its total haul at Locarno to three awards.
Curious
How is a divorce granted or not granted? Is it different in South Korea? Do both sides have to give permission or a random judge makes that decision based on what?
merra
They commit adultery. In SK law, the partner in the wrong has no right to be the one requesting the divorce both parties have to get an agreement before the divorced get granted. The lawsuit is still going on till the wife signs