Tving’s ‘Bargain’ takes Best Screenplay Award at Cannes International Series Festival

Tving original series “Bargain” grabbed the Best Screenplay Award in the feature-length competition category of the 6th Cannes International Series Festival (Canneseries) Wednesday local time.

At the closing ceremony of this year’s Canneseries held at Lumiere Grand Theater in Cannes, France, “Bargain” won the honor — the first time for an original series from a domestic streaming service to be awarded at Canneseries.

“Bargain” was co-written by three screenwriters: Jeon Woo-sung, Choi Byeong-yun and Kwan Jae-min.

“I am honored to receive this invitation and recognition for our very unique concept work,” said Jeon, who received the prize, during the awards ceremony. “I very much appreciate this award.”

“Bargain” is an expanded series based upon director Lee Chung-hyun’s 14-minute short film of the same name, made in 2015. It tells the story of a human organ trafficking ring and its targets who have to escape a sudden earthquake. It was the only Korean title to be invited to Canneseries this year and was up for five awards — in the Best Series, Best Music, Best Screenplay, Best Performance and Special Interpretation Award categories.

At the official screening held at the Lumiere Grand Theater on April 16, over 2,300 audience members present gave a standing ovation for more than three minutes. Major foreign press including Le Figaro and Panorama praised “Bargain” for its concept, composition and acting.

“We are very happy that the Tving original ‘Bargain’ was the first series by a domestic streaming service in Korea to win at Canneseries,” a spokesperson for Tving said. “We are honored to be able to continue the K-content syndrome and will do our best to discover new content that will impress and engage viewers worldwide.”

“Bargain” can be streamed on Tving in Korea and on Paramount+ internationally.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]