16th Seoul International Drama Awards

Award ceremony in 2021

Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee
Korean Broadcasters Association

Hosted by

Cha Eun-woo
Park Eun-bin

HighlightsMost awardsMissing Child
(South Korea - 3 awards)Grand Prize (Daesang)Missing Child
(South Korea)Golden Bird Prize for Best Series DramaThe Penthouse: War in Life
(South Korea)Golden Bird Prize for Best Mini-SeriesThe Investigation
(Denmark)Golden Bird Prize for Best TV MovieFederica Montseny, the Woman Who Speaks
(Spain)Television/radio coverageNetworkMBC

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Seoul International Drama Awards

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The 16th Annual Seoul International Drama Awards (Korean: 제16회 서울 드라마 어워즈) festival was held on 20–22 October 2021 at MBC Hall, Sangam-dong, Seoul. 238 works from 41 countries vied for awards in this edition.

The awards ceremony took place online on 21 October without spectators and non-face-to-face, hosted by Park Eun-bin and Astro member Cha Eun-woo. It was broadcast live through MBC and YouTube channel.

Those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and some of the winners from home and abroad attended this year's awards ceremony as per safety rules for COVID-19.^[1]

Juries

International competition^[2]
Program category	Grand Prize
	Best TV Movie	Up to 2 awards for each category through preliminary and final selection.
	Best Mini Series
	Best Serial Drama
Individual category	Best Director	1 award for each category through preliminary and final selection.
	Best Screenwriter
	Best Actor
	Best Actress
Jury's Special Prize		Up to 3 awards selected by the organizing committee among recommendations by the jury.

International Invitation^[2]
Individual category	Outstanding Asian Star	Up to 5 popular actor and actress from Asian countries.

Korean (Hallyu) Drama^[2]
Program category	Outstanding Korean Drama	Up to 3 Korean dramas that contributed to the development of the Korean Wave.
Individual category	Outstanding Korean Actor	2 people by male and female among actors who appeared in a Korean drama.
	Outstanding Korean Actress
	Outstanding Korean OST	1 person who sang a soundtrack in a Korean drama.

Final selection

These are the juries who selected the program and individual to win each category.

Ko Suk-man (South Korea), former President of Educational Broadcasting System
Sohn Byung-woo (South Korea), Professor of Department of Communication, Chungnam National University
Akiko Amy Kanda (Japan), Producer of TV Asahi Scripted Production Department
Magdalene Ew (Singapore), Head of Content - WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks Asia Pacific
Isabelle Degeorges (France), Gaumont Television director
Ana Carolina Lima (Brazil), Globoplay Head of Content
You Xiao Gang (China), Chairman of China Television Drama Production Industry Association

Preliminary screening

These are the juries who selected the program and individual to qualify for the final selection.

Rebecca Chiyoko King-O'Riain (Ireland), Associate Professor in Department of Sociology Maynooth University
Tan Wei Lin (Singapore), vice-president of English drama production - MediaCorp
Stephen Corvini (Australia), Live Wires Productions founder/executive producer
Jason Bechervaise (U.K.), Film critic/Professor of Soongsil Cyber University

South Korea

Noh Kwang-woo, columnist/Professor in School of Media and Communication at Korea University
Sunny Ko, Professor of Seoul Institute of the Arts
Gong Hee-jeong, critic
Jung Duk-hyun, critic
Katharine Kim, CEO of Eastwave Studio
Lee Hun-yul, Professor of School of Media and Communication at Korea University
Kim Seon-young, critic
Hong Seok-woo, executive producer in Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Drama Department

Winners and nominees

The nominations for the 16th Seoul International Drama Awards were announced on September 10, 2021.^[3] Winners are listed first and denoted in bold.

Source:^[4]

Program

NOTE:

"Golden Bird Prize" recipients are indicated with a double dagger (‡)
"Silver Bird Prize" recipients are indicated with a dagger (†)

Program
*Grand Prize (Daesang)* Missing Child (South Korea)	Best Serial Drama The Penthouse: War in Life (South Korea)‡ Go Ahead (China)† Ana's Revenge (Colombia) The Long Ballad (China) Legacy (Turkey) The Pit (season 4) (Turkey) Monarch Industry (China) The Red Room (Turkey)
Best Mini-Series The Investigation (Denmark)‡ The Bad Kids (China)† 30 Coins (Spain) Dark Woods (Germany) Das Boot (season 2) (Germany) It's a Sin (U.K.) Redlight (Netherlands) The Great (U.S.) We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (Germany)	Best TV Movie Federica Montseny, the Woman Who Speaks (Spain)‡ This House Is Mine (Germany)† A Bad Word (Germany) Grooming (Argentina) Honour (U.K.) Missing Child (South Korea) SF8 – Joan's Galaxy (South Korea) The Child of Light (Taiwan)
Best Short-form Drama Passengers (Russia)‡ Delete Me (Norway)† Blackout (Thailand) Hanging On (South Korea) Dramaworld (season 2) (U.S.) No, Thank You (South Korea) Standing Drama – The Play (South Korea) Teaching from Home (Germany)	Jury's Special Prize Bonus Vacation (Malaysia) Atlantic Crossing (Norway) The Pit (season 4) (Turkey)

Individual

NOTE:
No roles for nominated/winning actor(s)/actress(es) needed.

Individual
Best Actor *Park Hyuk-kwon – Missing Child* (South Korea)** Kirill Käro – Passengers (Norway) Jung Yoon-seok – Strange School Tales – The Child Who Would Not Come (South Korea) Samuel Benito [de] – A Bad Word [de] (Germany) Eduard Fernández – 30 Coins (Spain) Søren Malling – The Investigation (Denmark) Bai Jingting – You Are My Hero (China) Huang Xiaoming – Game Changer (China)	Best Actress *Elle Fanning – The Great* (U.S.)** Park Ha-sun – No, Thank You (South Korea) Thea Sofie Loch Næss – Delete Me (Norway) Iris Berben – This House Is Mine (Germany) Isabelle Gélinas – Fourniret the Showdown (France) Rosalie Thomass – Jackpot [de] (Germany) Carice van Houten – Redlight (Netherlands) Dilraba Dilmurat – The Long Ballad (China) Kim So-yeon – The Penthouse: War in Life (South Korea)
Best Director *Cho Yong-won – Missing Child* (South Korea)**	Best Writer *Russell T Davies – It's a Sin* (U.K.)**

Outstanding Korean Drama

Hallyu
Top Excellence Award	Vincenzo
Excellence Award	Start-Up Taxi Driver Kairos
Best Actor	Song Joong-ki (Vincenzo)
Best Actress	Bae Suzy (Start-Up)
Best Original Soundtrack (OST)	Young Tak – "Okay" (Revolutionary Sisters)

Special performances

Order of the presentation, name of the artist, and the song(s) they performed
Order	Artist	Performed	Ref.
1	Jinjo Crew	"Soul of SEOUL"	^[5]
2	Young Tak	"Kkondae Latte" (Kkondae Intern OST)	^[6]
2	Young Tak	"Okay" (Revolutionary Sisters OST)	^[6]
3	Big Naughty	"Kwaejina Ching Ching Nane (Daegu)"	^[7]
4	AB6IX	"Cherry"	^[8]

References

^ Kim, Kyung-hee (19 October 2021). "'서울드라마어워즈 2021' 10월 21일(목) 오후 5시 MBC&서울드라마어워즈 공식 유튜브 통해 생중계" ['Seoul Drama Awards 2021' will be broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of MBC & Seoul Drama Awards at 5 pm on Thursday, October 21st.]. iMBC (in Korean). Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022 – via Naver.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Juries & Awards". Seoul International Drama Awards. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
^ Seoul International Drama Awards (10 September 2021). 서울드라마어워즈 2021 노미네이트 발표 [Seoul International Drama Awards 2021] Nominee Showcase. YouTube. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Jung, Yoo-jin (21 October 2021). "'빈센조' 한류 드라마 작품상 수상(서울드라마어워즈)[포토엔HD]". Newsen. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023 – via Naver.
^ Bang, Kyu-hyun (October 21, 2021). "[ST포토] 진조크루 '서울드라마어워즈' 시작을 알린다". Sports Today (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
^ Kim, Chang-hyun (October 21, 2021). "영탁 '서울드라마어워즈 축하공연'[★포토]". Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023 – via Naver.
^ Park, Jin-hee (October 21, 2021). "'서울드라마어워즈' 축하공연하는 빅나티". Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023 – via Naver.
^ Jung, Yoo-jin (October 21, 2021). "AB6IX, 서울드라마어워즈 시상식 축하무대 화려하게~[포토엔HD]". Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023 – via Naver.