Lee Hye-ri won the New York Asian Film Festival's 'Rising Star Award' for the movie 'Victory'

The movie 'Victory' drew positive responses and a standing ovation from global audiences at the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival.

'Victory' is the story of 'Millennium Girls', a rookie cheerleading club full of passion, cheering everyone on with exciting dances and songs. The movie 'Victory', which was selected as the opening film of the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival, was released to the world as a world premiere at Lincoln Center in New York on July 12, local time in New York. Actors Lee Hye-ri, Park Se-wan, and director Park Beom-soo, who attended the red carpet at the opening ceremony of the New York Asian Film Festival on this day, responded with smiles to the flashes of reporters from around the world. He also heightened the mood by expressing his gratitude to New York audiences who were looking forward to the movie.

At the awards ceremony, which was the highlight of the opening ceremony, the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award (hereinafter referred to as the Rising Star Award), an award recognized as an emerging talent in the Asian film industry, was followed. When Hye-ri Lee's name was called as the winner, she and actor Park Se-wan and director Park Beom-soo enjoyed the joy of receiving the award and went up to the award stage with loud applause. Hyeri Lee said, "I am thrilled, honored, and happy. I think this is an award I received on behalf of the actors I worked with. I hope 'Victory' will provide a lot of support and comfort to the audience."

When the official screening of 'Victory' began following the opening ceremony, the audience filling the theater shook their shoulders to the exciting dance and singing throughout the screening. At the end of the movie, even before the ending credits rolled, there was a lively response from the audience with cheers and applause. Director Park Beom-soo said, “I was very moved to see people laughing together and holding their breath and concentrating.” Hyeri Lee expressed her overwhelming feelings, saying, “These are the first audiences of ‘Victory,’ and this moment feels like a victory to me.” Park Se-wan was happy, saying, “I acted as a supporter in ‘Victory,’ and thanks to that, I received even greater support here.”

The final Q&A session included questions and answers about the movie. When asked about the reason why cheerleading was first featured in a Korean film, Anna Lee, CEO of Annapurna Films, said, "A true story about a cheerleading club in Geoje Island was published in the newspaper during the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. “The original plan started with the material as a motif,” he said of the behind-the-scenes story. Director Park Beom-soo said, "I thought that if I mixed the end-of-the-century atmosphere of 1999, which I personally experienced, with dance and music, I could deliver more exciting cheer at a time when cheer is needed," he said. explained about it.

When asked what approach she took to express the character of Pil-seon, Hye-ri Lee, who plays the role of aspiring dancer Pil-seon, said, "In order to digest the dialogue in dialect, I practiced hard with the help of a teacher as if singing line by line three months before filming began. “I did it,” he said. Park Se-wan, who plays the role of Pil-seon's soulmate and Mina's K-eldest daughter Mina, was asked about the secret to building chemistry with Pil-seon as best friends, saying, "I practiced dancing and dialect for 8 to 9 hours every day for 3 months before filming. “I think we developed natural chemistry because we were together and stuck together,” he said, revealing his strong friendship with Lee Hye-ri and the process of working hard for the work.

Finecut, the overseas sales company for 'Victory', said, "North American distributors who attended the New York Asian Film Festival also showed great interest in the film and are receiving inquiries about purchasing the copyright."

'Victory' will be released in Korea on August 14th.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr