“The Bacchus Lady,” a new film directed by South Korean director E J-yong, has picked up an award at the 17th Asiatica Film Festival in Italy.

The annual film festival, which wrapped up in Rome on Sunday, bestowed the film with an award in the competition section on Saturday, praising its courage for dealing with a taboo subject.

The movie, which stars Youn Yuh-jung, Chon Moo-song and Yoon Kye-sang, portrays illegal prostitution among the elderly in South Korea.

Asiatica is Rome's oldest film festival about Asian films. Around 40 films were submitted to this year's event by directors from South Korea, China, Japan, Iran, Turkey, Israel and Mongolia.