‘Pachinko’ takes home prize from this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards in NYC

Apple TV+’s “Pachinko” (2022) nabbed a prize at this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards held in New York City on Monday, making it the second Korean series to win at the American awards ceremony.

Netflix’s “Squid Game (2021) took home a prize at the 2021 Gotham Awards.

“Pachinko” won the grand prize in the Breakthrough Series Long Form category, which honors series that have episodes over 40 minutes.

The series premiered on March 25 and is based on a novel of the same title by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee. It follows four generations of ethnic Koreans in Japan, known as Zainichi Koreans. The series has been confirmed for a second season.

The series’ breakout star Kim Min-ha made it on the list of nominees for Outstanding Performance in a New Series, but lost to Ben Whishaw for his role in the comedy series “This is Going to Hurt” (2022).

Kim debuted in 2016 and is best known for playing the younger days of lead character Sunja in “Pachinko.”

Director Park Chan-wook’s 2022 Cannes-winning film “Decision to Leave” was also nominated in the Best International Feature category but lost out to French drama thriller “Happening ” (2021).

“Decision to Leave” follows police detective Hae-jun, portrayed by Park Hae-il, who begins to fall for a suspect: a Chinese widow named Seo-rae, portrayed by Tang Wei. The pair meet after Hae-jun begins to investigate the mysterious death of a man — Seo-rae’s husband — who was found dead after falling from a mountain. Riding a fine line between investigative drama and romance, the film earned director Park the best director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Gotham Independent Film Awards are an annual American awards ceremony that recognizes independent films and series, as well as their actors, creatives and crew. This year is the ceremony’s 32nd event.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]