The 10th Seoul International Drama Awards has widened its global reach and incorporated new formats, such as Web series, in this year’s nominations.

“The past 10 years have seen a big change in world drama,” the awards’ secretary-general, Kim Jong-hwa, said of the efforts for global expansion.

“Whereas in the past, only dramas from a handful of countries, such as the U.S. or Japan, were introduced to the world, now, we are seeing work from a wide variety of countries.”


Nominated for the grand prize are shows such as “Open Your Eyes” (Angola), “The Good Sister” (Canada), “Naked Among Wolves” (Germany), “Woman Under Influence” (France), “Jane the Virgin” (U.S.) and more.

Korean nominees include the hit office drama “Misaeng,” “Snowy Path,” “Bad Guys” and “Yuna’s Street.”

The awards also created the “New Trend Drama” category this year, which awards Web series, to reflect the diversification of the drama format and theme.

SIDA, which celebrates its 10th event this year, is an annual award show that judges both local and international drama series. 

A total of 24 drama series and 25 directors, screenwriters and actors have been nominated as finalists from 212 submissions from over 48 countries.  

This year, the foreign finalists have been aired on four major Korean channels -- KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS -- of the award ceremony, allowing local viewers to see them beforehand.

The awards are divided into a total of five categories in the competition segment -- Grand Prize, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor and Best Actress -- each subdivided into three sections of TV Movie, miniseries and serial drama. The noncompetition segment comprises the New Trend, Asian Stars, Outstanding Korean Drama and K-Wave Contribution categories. 

The head of the judging committee is actor Choi Bool-am, who has been a strong presence in the Korean film and television industry since his debut in 1967.

The festival plans to invite international actors such as Wallace Chung from Hong Kong, Odagiri Joe from Japan, Chen Bolin from Taiwan and more. The American actor Milo Ventimiglia -- best known for his role as Peter Petrelli in the NBC series “Heroes” -- will be speaking at the Global Drama Forum on Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

The 10th SIDA will take place on Sept. 10. The awards will be prerecorded at 7 p.m. and broadcast at 11 p.m. on MBC. Producer Kim Yu-gon -- who helmed the reality show “Dad! Where Are You Going?” -- will be directing.

A full list of nominated finalists will be available on the SIDA website, www.seouldrama.org, on Wednesday.

By Rumy Doo (bigbird@heraldcorp.com)