GERARDMER, France – South Korean film-maker Jason Yu was awarded the prestigious Gerardmer International Fantastic Film Festival Grand Prix on Jan 28 for his first feature-length offering, Sleep.

The 34-year-old’s movie is a comedy horror about the lives of a couple – played by late actor Lee Sun-kyun and actress Jung Yu-mi – being turned upside down after the husband’s nightmarish sleepwalking habits terrorise his wife.

Lee died at the age of 48 on Dec 27 in an apparent suicide amid gruelling police investigations into his alleged drug use.

The Jury Prize was awarded to Amelia’s Children by Portuguese film-maker Gabriel Abrantes and Frenchwoman Celine Rouzet’s En Attendant La Nuit (For Night Will Come).

Amelia’s Children is about a man who believes himself to be an orphan, but then finds his family. En Attendant La Nuit is about a teenager who needs human blood to survive and falls in love with his neighbour.

When Evil Lurks by Argentine Demian Rugna won both the Critics’ Prize and Audience Award, while Briton Barnaby Clay’s The Seeding picked up the Great East Region Youth Jury Award.

Transylvanie by Frenchman Rodrigue Huart was awarded the Short Film Grand Prize.

The Gerardmer festival specialises in films from the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. AFP