'Unknown Seoul' Park Bo-young Selected as Bechdelian Actor of the Year!

The content festival 'Bechdel Day 2025', which reflects on gender equality representation through Korean films and series and contributes to cultural diversity, has announced the selection of individuals in the series category for the Bechdelian award, organized by DGK (Korean Directors Guild). The Bechdelian selections for the series category of Bechdel Day 2025 include director category 〈Jung Kyun-hee〉, actor category 〈Unknown Seoul〉 Park Bo-young, writer category 〈Mrs. Oksan〉 Park Ji-sook, and producer category 〈Quiet Sales〉 represented by Han Seok-won, Hwang Gi-yong, and Shin Hye-mi from High Jium Studio and 221b.

The honor of the actor category award goes to 〈Unknown Seoul〉's actor Park Bo-young. Judge Lee Hwa-jung, a programmer for Bechdel Day, stated, "〈Unknown Seoul〉 is a comprehensive edition of the actor Park Bo-young we have known, and it is a signal of the actor's expanded future," adding, "If we add the unknown and the future, where each acts as the other, it totals to 1 person playing 4 roles. Park Bo-young challenges the highest level of acting with meticulously calculated techniques." Actor Park Bo-young powerfully conveys the energy of supporting her fraternal twin 'Future', who is trying to build walls with the world, as a woman 'Unknown' who had to disconnect herself from the world. Thanks to Park Bo-young, the journey of 'Unknown' to Seoul was brave, heartwarming, and deeply moving, leaving the word 'comfort' imprinted in the hearts of the viewers.

The series category of Bechdel Day 2025 conducted evaluations on 102 works released from June 2024 to May 2025 across public broadcasting, comprehensive channels, cable channels, and OTT originals. The criteria included: ① At least two named female characters must appear in the film ② The female characters must have a conversation ③ The topics of their conversation must not solely be about male characters ④ At least one of the key staff members, such as director, producer, screenwriter, or cinematographer, must be a female filmmaker ⑤ The film must either have a female lead or equal roles and significance for both male and female leads ⑥ It must not contain hate or discriminatory views towards minorities ⑦ Female characters must not be represented as stereotypes. Based on these seven criteria, the Bechdel Choice 10 was selected.

This year's Bechdel Day 2025 will be held for two days from September 6 to 7 at KU Cinematheque. A special talk titled 'Meeting with Bechdelian' will be held to discuss gender equality in content with this year's Bechdelian winners, along with a 'Special Planning Talk Program' to more easily convey the purpose of Bechdel Day to the audience. Additionally, there will be a 'Free Screening' of the works selected as 'Bechdel Choice 10' in theaters. More detailed information regarding the Bechdel Day 2025 event can be found on the official Bechdel Day SNS account (www.instagram.com/bechdelday/).