AwardsWatch

42 films from 25 Asia Pacific countries and areas will be honoured across 13 exciting award categories from Best Performance by an Actress to Best Feature Film.

Hosted by acclaimed Australian actor David Wenham and pop-culture-icon and journalist Lee Lin Chin, the awards are attended by the region's leading names and will celebrate this year's best in cinema.

BEST FEATURE FILM
Sweet Country
Australia
Produced by Greer SIMPKIN, David JOWSEY
Co-Produced by David TRANTER
Directed by Warwick THORNTON

BEST YOUTH FEATURE FILM
The Seen and Unseen (Sekala Niskala)
Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar
Produced by Gita FARA, Kamila ANDINI, Ifa ISFANSYAH
Directed by Kamila ANDINI

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming
Canada
Directed and Produced by Ann Marie FLEMING
Co-Produced by Shirley VERCRUYSSE, Michael FUKUSHIMA

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Last Men in Aleppo
Syrian Arab Republic, Denmark, Germany
Produced by Søren Steen JESPERSEN, Kareem ABEED, Stefan KLOOS
Directed by Feras FAYYAD

Special Mention
Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web
New Zealand
Produced by Alexander BEHSE
Directed and Co-Produced by Annie GOLDSON

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV for Loveless (Nelyubov)
Russian Federation, Belgium, France, Germany

BEST SCREENPLAY
Mayank TEWARI, Amit V MASURKAR for Newton
India

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Pyotr DUKHOVSKOY, Timofey LOBOV for The Bottomless Bag (Meshok Bez Dna)
Russian Federation

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Nata MURVANIDZE for Scary Mother (Sashishi Deda)
Georgia, Estonia

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Rajkummar RAO for Newton
India

Special Mention
Navid MOHAMMADZADEH for No Date, No Signature (Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza)
Islamic Republic of Iran

CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF UNESCO
Dede
Georgia, Croatia, Netherlands, Qatar, United Kingdom
Directed by Mariam KHATCHVANI
Produced by Vladimer KATCHARAVA, Samantha TAYLOR, Mike DOWNEY, Igor A. NOLA
Co-Produced by Conrad ALLEBLAS, Jamillah VAN DER HULST

Special Mention
Lady of the Lake (Loktak Lairembee)
India
Directed by Haobam Paban KUMAR
Produced by Haobam Paban KUMAR
Co-Produced by Thiyam ROMOLA DEVI, Haobam IBETOMBI, Warepam JHANSIRANI

FIAPF AWARD
Bianca BALBUENA
Philippines

YOUNG CINEMA AWARD
Ilgar NAJAF for Pomegranate Orchard (Nar Baği)
Azerbaijan

ARTISTIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Abbas KIAROSTAMI for 24 Frames
Islamic Republic of Iran, France

Films from Russian Federation and Georgia have won three APSAs each at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards ceremony tonight, leading the winner tally at the prestigious event.

The Achievement in Directing APSA has been won by Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev for Loveless (Nelyubov; Russian Federation, Belgium, France, Germany). Zvyagintsev’s previous film, Leviafan (2014) won the APSA for Best Feature Film, while Zvyagintsev was previously awarded a High Commendation for his direction of Elena (2011).

The winners of the APSA for Achievement in Cinematography are Pyotr Duhovskoy and Timofey Lobov for Meshok Bez Dna. Timofey Lobov attended the ceremony and accepted the award on the night.

One of two Jury Grand Prizes was awarded to Russian actor Aleksandr Yatsenko for his performance in Aritmiya (Russian Federation, Finland, Germany).

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the regions highest accolade in film, honouring cinematic excellence and the cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and is responsible for half of the world’s film output.  42 films from 25 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific region received APSA nominations in 2017, including the first nomination for a film from Bhutan.

Best Feature Film was awarded to Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country (Australia), produced by Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey.

President of the APSA International Jury, Oscar® and BAFTA® nominated film editor Jill Bilcock ACE ASE said ’Our jury from five countries have been transported by cinema into diverse communities and privileged to share in their personal stories, history and traditions. I was particularly impressed by the rise of stories featuring strong women characters and also the emergence of some truly talented female directors. Overall the Asia Pacific region continues to bring us extraordinary stories and talent with a highly original slant.’

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said ’Winning an Asia Pacific Screen Award is a huge achievement and, on behalf of the City of Brisbane, I’d like to congratulate the winners and thank them for sharing their extraordinary stories. Brisbane is honoured to be part of this journey and delighted to further strengthen ties with our neighbours in the culturally rich region of the Asia Pacific.’

Winners were determined by the APSA International Jury, headed by acclaimed Australian film editor Jill Bilcock, joined by Filipino writer/director Adolfo Alix Jr, Chinese actress He Saifei, Tokyo Film Festival Programmer Yoshi Yatabe and Kazakh writer, director and cinematographer Adilkhan Yerzhanov.

Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and its Academy Michael Hawkins said “I congratulate the winners in the 11^thAPSAs and the two International Juries for their remarkable work in determining this year’s winners. I make particular mention of the more than a dozen returning APSA Academy members amongst the nominees and winners.”

 The 2017 recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund are:

• Rajit Kapur (India) for Paradise in Flames
• Robert Connolly (Australia) for Magic Beach
• Guy Davidi (Israel) for Senseless
• Vladimer Katcharava (Georgia) for Nene

In 2017, a total of 105 projects were submitted by 83 different APSA Academy members from 34 countries and areas across Asia Pacific and beyond, representing the truly global reach of APSA Academy members.

The success stories of projects funded by the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund are many and varied:

• The first completed film, from the inaugural round of the Fund in 2010 was Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation which went on to win almost 50 awards internationally including an Oscar®, Golden Globe®, Golden Bear and APSA for Best Film.
• 2011 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund recipient Maryam Ebrahimi’s No Burqas Behind Bars was recognised worldwide, winning awards at the major festivals around the globe, including the biggest TV award in Europe – the Prix Europa Award for the Best TV Documentary and an International Emmy Award.
• Shawkat Amin Korki’s Memories on Stone began its development as a 2011 Fund recipient and since completion, has garnered more than a dozen international awards including the 2014 APSA UNESCO Award. The film had an official screening at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, at the MPAA headquarters in Washington and is Iraq’s official submission for the 88th Academy Awards® for the Best Foreign-Language Film.

Currently in pre-production are MPA-funded feature films from Bangladesh, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Marshall Islands, South Korea and Turkey, while eight other projects are still in development, and production is underway on a project from Russia. The MPA has supported the work of APSA Academy members including Asghar Farhadi, Rolf de Heer, Lee Chang-dong, Zeynep Özbatur Atakan, Mohammad Rasoulof, Cliff Curtis, and the first female director from Saudi Arabia Haifaa Al Mansour

Alexandra Sun, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Andrew Pike OAM