Thursday 7 November 2019
Brisbane: The 13th Asia Pacific Screen Awards today revealed the full line-up of the three juries, drawn from ten countries, who will determine the winners in the region’s highest accolade in film for 2019. The Awards will be presented in Brisbane on November 21, with 37 films nominated from 22 countries and areas of Asia Pacific.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the announcement of the three juries.
“The talented and diverse people who form the three APSA Juries bring a wealth of experience to the roles,” he said.
“The year, the calibre of films nominated from all over the region is outstanding, and I wish the juries every success as they undertake the difficult task of deciding the 2019 winners.”
President of the APSA INTERNATIONAL JURY is multi-award-winning Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo, whose films have been selected for Cannes, Venice, Busan, Berlin, Toronto and Telluride.
Khoo is joined on the five-member International Jury by globally acclaimed filmmakers from Australia, Italy, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.
They are Australian film and television producer Greer Simpkin (APSA Best Feature Film winner Sweet Country), Cannes and Venice Film Festival selector Paolo Bertolin, Korean screenwriter, theatre actor and Russian literature specialist Oh Jung-mi (APSA Jury Grand Prize winner Burning) and Mike Downey, UK film producer, journalist and activist, Deputy Chair of the European Film Academy and winner of the APSA Cultural Diversity Award winner for Dede.
The APSA CULTURAL DIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL JURY determine the winner of the prestigious Cultural Diversity Award under the Patronage of UNESCO, represents APSA’s founding partnership with UNESCO, and the shared goals of the two organisations in the protection and preservation of cultural identity.
Jury Chair is Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad (APSA Cultural Diversity Award winner The Idol), documentary-maker, actress and founder of the NGO Catharsis-Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy from Lebanon Zeina Daccache, Dương Bích Hạnh, head of the Culture Unit at the UNESCO Bangkok Office, an anthropologist with a strong commitment to gender equality, cultural diversity and human rights.
Previously announced APSA YOUTH, ANIMATION, DOCUMENTARY INTERNATIONAL JURY is Chaired by Indonesian auteur Garin Nugroho, joined by Berlin-based award-winning Syrian film director and co-founder of Syria’s DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival Diana El Jeiroudi and world leader in the fields of animation, VFX, film development and production co-founder and CEO of Animal Logic Zareh Nalbandian.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony on November 21 is the culmination of an action-packed week of events for the industry and public in Brisbane presented by the Asia Pacific Screen Forum.
Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Michael Hawkins said “The Asia Pacific Screen Forum will unite the screen industry in Brisbane this November, bringing together some of the most significant screen storytellers and key industry figures, and will include special appearances from some of our Jury members at events, and on panels including the Brunch to explore cultural diversity and freedom of expression in Asia Pacific, and the Meet the Programmers session.”
Full Asia Pacific Screen Forum program available and tickets available here.
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APSA INTERNATIONAL JURY
President of the APSA INTERNATIONAL JURY is multi-award winning filmmaker Eric Khoo, history-making as first Singaporean to have films invited to major film festivals including Cannes, Venice, Busan, Berlin, Toronto and Telluride. He became an APSA Academy member in 2011 as producer of nominated Best Animated Feature Film Tatsumi, which celebrates the life and work of Japanese comics artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. The film was his third to be selected for Cannes, along with Be With Me which opened Directors Fortnight in 2005, and My Magic which screened In Competition in 2008.
Australian film and television producer Greer Simpkin has produced a number of acclaimed Australian films that have screened at prestigious film festivals, and has notably supported the work of Indigenous filmmakers including Warwick Thorton, Ivan Sen and Rachel Perkins. She was awarded the APSA for Best Feature Film for Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country in 2017, and in 2018 was awarded both Best Film for Sweet Country and Best Television Drama Series for Mystery Road at Australia’s domestic AACTA awards.
Festival programmer, film writer, producer and passionate advocate for Asia Pacific cinema Paolo Bertolin is part of the Director’s Fortnight Selection Committee of the Cannes Film Festival and long-time Venice Film Festival international consultant for South and South East Asia, Oceania and Turkey.
Korean screenwriter, theatre actor and Russian literature specialist Oh Jung-mi adapted the Haruki Murakami short story “Barn Burning” together with acclaimed auteur Lee Chang-dong, and the resulting film Burning (Boening) has been nominated for more than 120 international awards, and was awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the 2018 APSAs. Oh and Lee have won three major screenplay awards, with four further nominations.
Deputy Chair of the European Film Academy, UK film producer, journalist and activist Mike Downey, has produced more than 60 films, including Mariam Khatchvani’s Georgian feature Dede which won the 2017 APSA Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO. Downey’s Jury appointment also celebrates APSA’s Academy partnership with the EFA.
APSA CULTURAL DIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL JURY
Chair: Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad’s The Idol won with the Cultural Diversity award in 2015, and the film was screened in a special APSA event at UNESCO’s Paris HQ, during the 10th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Prior to that, Abu-Assad’s 2013 film Omar won APSA’s Best Feature Film award and was nominated for an Academy Award®.
From Lebanon, Zeina Daccache, documentary-maker, actress and founder of the NGO Catharsis-Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy, which brought the innovative tools of drama therapy to Lebanon resulting in the theatrical production known as 12 Angry Lebanese featuring inmates of Roumieh Prison. Her documentary of the same name and was nominated for an APSA for Best Documentary Feature in 2010 and won the Dubai International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award. The show and film led to the implementation of Law 463 in 2009 (the reduction of sentences for good behaviour).
The third member of the Jury is Dương Bích Hạnh, head of the Culture Unit at the UNESCO Bangkok Office, an anthropologist with a strong commitment to gender equality, cultural diversity and human rights. Her work involves covering the Mekong cluster countries and coordinating a number of regional projects in Asia and the Pacific, to implement UNESCO’s six cultural conventions and promoting the role of culture and creativity in sustainable development.
Previously announced APSA YOUTH, ANIMATION, DOCUMENTARY INTERNATIONAL JURY is chaired by Indonesian auteur Garin Nugroho, joined by Berlin-based award-winning Syrian film director and co-founder of Syria’s DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival Diana El Jeiroudi and world leader in the fields of animation, VFX, film development and production co-founder and CEO of Animal Logic Zareh Nalbandian.
Full Asia Pacific Screen Forum program available and tickets available here.
APSA is an international cultural program supported by Brisbane City Council and powered by Brisbane Marketing. APSA is endorsed by foundation partners UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations. The awards ceremony is an exclusive presentation unique to Brisbane.
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