Minah Wins Screen International Rising Star Asia Award for Snowball

Minah has won the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award at the 2021 New York Asian Film Festival for her performance in the film Snowball. The award is given “to actors who demonstrate strong promise and notable screen presence,” with past recipients including Ryu Jun-yeol for Money and Lee Joo-young for Baseball Girl. She called the win “great news and a real surprise,” and it set off a celebration at home. Her mother, she said with a laugh, told her “I can’t believe my daughter won an award in New York!”

In Snowball, Minah plays Kang-yi, a teen girl for whom friendship is everything. Kang-yi is friends with classmates A-ram, played by Shim Dal-gi, and So-young, played by Han Sung-min, and the girls decide to run away from home together. Without a plan, their escape brings harsh consequences. The film was adapted from Lim Sol-ah’s award-winning novel The Best Life and premiered at the 25th Busan International Film Festival in 2020.

Preparing for the role hit close to home. Minah said she “actually felt sick reading Snowball because of the whirlwind of emotions,” and that tracing Kang-yi’s path recalled her own teenage years. “Kang-Yi is very passive and gets swept up in her friends’ decisions,” she said, a contrast to her TV drama roles such as My Absolute Boyfriend.

Snowball’s recognition continued beyond New York. The film earned Minah a Best New Actress win at the Women in Film Korea Festival and a 2022 Best New Actress – Film nomination. Snowball arrives in South Korean theaters on September 1.

Source: Forbes Source: Wikipedia Source: 네이트 (via Google News) Source: 씨네21 (via Google News)