Konkona Sen Sharma’s The Rapist bags Kim Jiseok Award at Busan Film Festival

Starring award-winning actress Konkona Sen Sharma and Arjun Rampal in lead roles, Hindi film The Rapist (2021) has bagged the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award at the Busan International Film Festival.

The film has been directed by National Award-winning director Aparna Sen and also features Tanmay Dhanania in an important role. It recently had its world premiere at the festival as part of the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section.

For the award, established in respectful memory of the late program director Kim Jiseok in 2017, The Rapist was pitted against six other feature films, including Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer No Land's Man (2021). It jointly won the Kim Jiseok award with Gensan Punch, a Filipino-Japanese film produced and directed by award-winning director Brillante Mendoza.

Sen said she feels “deeply humbled, grateful and overwhelmed” after her directorial venture won the award. “This award has a special significance for me because I was in Busan as a jury member many years ago and I had the honour of meeting Mr Kim in person. I was aware of Mr Kim's tireless, lifelong effort to promote Asian cinema throughout the world. I take this opportunity to thank my producers, Applause Entertainment and Quest Films who put their might behind me and supported me all the way. And of course, my very talented cast and crew who helped me make my vision a reality,” the 75-year-old veteran said.

The Rapist is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Quest Films Pvt. Ltd. The 26th edition of the Busan International Film Festival concluded on Friday.

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