| The 57th Baeksang Arts Awards will be broadcast on JTBC on May 13. Courtesy of the organizing committee |
By Lee Gyu-lee
The 57th Baeksang Arts Awards, one of the most prestigious entertainment awards in the country, will be held on May 13.
This year's ceremony will be presented without a live audience, in a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19, like last year. Instead, it will be broadcast live on the cable network, JTBC, at 9 p.m.
The Baeksang Arts Award, launched in 1965, is the only award in Korea to recognize excellence in the different categories of entertainment: film, television and theater.
The nominees and nominated works are selected through a rigorous process by different groups of experts and critics from each entertainment category. The nominations are also presented before a group of 40 professionals from various fields to take in a broad perspective in selecting the winners.
To qualify for nomination, the works must have been released between May 1, 2020 and April 11, 2021.
For the television category, TV shows, streaming service platforms' original series and web series were considered for nomination. The series must have at least four episodes and should have released more than one-third of its complete run within the aforementioned period.
For films, the filmmakers who made feature directorial debuts within the timeframe will be considered for the award for Best New Director.
A shortlist of the nominees will be posted on the awards' official website on April 12.