31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas represented
17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
All We Imagine as Light, April, lead nominations
31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas represented
Australia’s Gold Coast: The Asia Pacific Screen Academy today announced the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) and launched the programme for the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum.
Jewel Private Residences, in strategic partnership with APSA, will host the prestigious international film event, which honours the cinematic excellence of 78 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific and films that best reflect their cultural origins and the diversity of the vast region.
The 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Saturday 30 November and the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, 27-30 November, will be held at The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region.
APSA’s theme in 2024, Land, holds profound significance across the Asia Pacific, encompassing traditional, cultural, and historical meanings, and serves as a powerful lens through which we can explore the relationship between identity, sovereignty, and the stories we tell through film.
The 2024 Forum’s Opening Night kicks off a carefully curated programme which features a centrepiece full day of conversation and workshops to shift the focus from projects to people, in Connect: Navigating the Human Side of Co-Productions. A special series named in honour of the late NETPAC founder Aruna Vasudev, celebrates her legacy by fostering dialogue and collaboration among the region’s creative voices. Roundtables, a focus on cultural preservation, a youth pitching workshop and a series of networking events including APSA’s early career filmmakers event Reel Connections, all feature in the programme which is now online at https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/asia-pacific-screen-forum.
31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas are represented in the final APSA nominations.
Leading the field for the 17th annual event, with nominations in five categories, are two powerful, cinematic stories by and about women. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg), described as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (Georgia, Italy, France), the story of an ob-gyn, are both nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performance.
Also competing for Best Film are Yoko Yamanaka’s Tokyo-set story of a young woman’s mental illness, Desert of Namibia (Japan); Neo Sora’s future Tokyo tale of perilous social surveillance Happyend (Japan, United States of America); and Xiaoxuan Jiang’s To Kill a Mongolian Horse (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, United States of America), a stunning portrait of a Mongolian horseman turned performer, based on a true story.
Four of the five films nominated for Best Film are from female directors, and in an APSA first, all are first or second features.
In a trend continued across the feature fiction nominations, women represent 41% of the total nominations and 67% of the nominated films are debut or sophomore features.
Nominated for Best Director are four rising filmmakers in India’s Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Inner Mongolian filmmaker Xiaoxuan Jiang for To Kill a Mongolian Horse and Georgian directors Dea Kulumbegashvili for April and Tato Kotetishvili for Holy Electricity, alongside prolific French Cambodian auteur Rithy Panh for Meeting with Pol Pot (Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot).
Five writer-directors are nominated for the Best Screenplay award. Japanese American Neo Sora is nominated for Happyend, Türkiye’s Selman Nacar for Hesitation Wound (Tereddüt Çizgisi) and South Indian filmmaker PS Vinothraj for The Adamant Girl (Kottukkaali), alongside Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light and Dea Kulumbegashvili for April.
The Best Cinematography award nominees are Ranabir Das for All We Imagine as Light, Arseni Khachaturan for April, Michaël Capron for Mongrel, Hideho Urata for Stranger Eyes and Son Doan for Viet and Nam.
For the first time since it was introduced, the ungendered Best Performance category is honouring five women for their roles.
They are India’s Kani Kusruti for All We Imagine as Light, Georgia’s Ia Sukhitashvili for April, Japan’s Yuumi Kawai for Desert of Namibia, Kazakh performer Madina Akylbekova for Madina and Iranian Soheila Golestani for The Seed of the Sacred Fig.
APSA has, since its inception, celebrated films made for and about young people, and as a collection they provide insight into the unique and the universal issues facing young people across the region.
Nominees for Best Youth Film are Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong (India), Qu Youjia’s She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (Kai Shi De Qiang, People’s Republic of China), Antoinette Jadaone’s Sunshine (Philippines), Rachel House’s The Mountain (New Zealand), and live action/animated omnibus Magic Beach (Australia), directed by Robert Connolly, Emma Kelly, Susan Danta, Lee Whitmore, Anthony Lucas, Kathy Sarpi, Eddie White, Simon Rippingale, Pierce Davison, Marieka Walsh, Susie Shapones and Jake Duczynski.
Nominated for Best Animated Film are five outstanding works that represent a broad range of animation styles from classic hand-drawn to rotoscoping, motion capture and claymation.
Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu (Japan, France), Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail (Australia), Hur Bum-wook’s Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Republic of Korea), Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within (Kimi no Iro, Japan) and Carl Joseph Papa’s The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines) are the animation nominees.
Arguably one of APSA’s most important awards, depicting the real events of the vast region, is the Best Documentary category. Nominated in 2024 are five remarkable works: Breaking the Cycle by Aekaphong Saransate and Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn, capturing Thai political awakening; Kamay by Ilyas Yourish and Shahrokh Bikaran, about Afghan parents seeking justice under Taliban rule; No Other Land by Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham, following a Palestinian activist fighting eviction; XiXi by Fan Wu, exploring womanhood through a Chinese performer; and Youth (Homecoming) by Wang Bing, documenting Chinese textile workers.
Three further feature film awards will be announced and in 2024 are supported by the Top 51 World Filmmakers Club as a Major Partner. The new global brand, Top 51 Club, will provide an exclusive environment to connect creativity, film, culture, sports, and dining, aiming to offer a unique range of services for creative people worldwide, from artistic creation to entertainment experiences, located on the 51st floor of The Langham, Gold Coast.
- Best New Performer recognises an exceptional debut or sophomore performance in a feature film.
- The Cultural Diversity Award recognises outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film.
- Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC is awarded to an impressive first or second time feature director in recognition of the abundant emerging talent of the Asia Pacific.
The FIAPF AWARD is determined by APSA founding partner FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region.
Also to be announced during the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony are the four recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants of US$25,000 wholly supported by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) Asia Pacific.
Three films nominated in the APSA competition in 2024 were funded by the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (Georgia, Italy, France) is nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performance. Nominated for Best Youth Film is Magic Beach (Australia), directed by Robert Connolly, Emma Kelly, Susan Danta, Lee Whitmore, Anthony Lucas, Kathy Sarpi, Eddie White, Simon Rippingale, Pierce Davison, Marieka Walsh, Susie Shapones and Jake Duczynski. Cinematographer Son Doan is nominated for MPA APSA Academy Film Fund feature Viet and Nam.
Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Tracey Vieira said “Congratulations to all the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, who we welcome into the esteemed group of the region’s filmmakers, The Asia Pacific Screen Academy. In 2024, two thirds of our nominated films are debut or second films, representing the cinematic excellence of the next generation of Asia Pacific voices, and the unique and compelling stories they are choosing to tell.
Our new partnerships with Jewel Private Residences, The Langham, Gold Coast, The Top 51 World Filmmakers Club and The Post Lounge and our ongoing support of the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland and MPA Asia Pacific ensure APSA continues to grow and to rightly honour the incredible stories and storytellers of our culturally diverse region.”
AW Jewel General Manager Yutao Li said “We are thrilled to see such an outstanding range of talent and cinematic excellence represented in the nominations for the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. At AW Jewel, we pride ourselves on developing world-class luxury projects that bring creativity and innovation to life, much like the exceptional films being celebrated this year. Hosting this prestigious event across our Jewel development further strengthens our commitment to supporting artistic endeavors and fostering global cultural exchange.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said “What a time for our city – hosting the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards and Forum. We are fully committed to the growth of the screen industry, which injects $500 million into our economy annually. Since 2020, more than one third of international productions made in Australia were filmed on the Gold Coast and we are well advanced with plans for a new film production precinct in the north of the coast. The red carpet is out to welcome local and international filmmakers for these prestigious awards. Together, let’s make magic.”
CEO of Screen Queensland Jacqui Feeney said “As a proud supporter of the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Screen Queensland warmly congratulate the nominees announced today across 31 incredible films, including Australian productions Magic Beach and Memoir of a Snail. We look forward to welcoming filmmakers from the Asia Pacific to Queensland and connecting you with our local practitioners during the Forum, to explore possibilities for continuing the strong legacy of authentic storytelling that APSA showcases so powerfully.”
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy in strategic partnership with AW Jewel, acknowledges the support of Major Partners, Top 51 World Filmmakers Club, luxury beachfront hotel The Langham, Gold Coast, Australia’s leading lifestyle, opportunity and filmmaking destination the City of Gold Coast, the state’s premier screen production and culture agency Screen Queensland, internationally acclaimed post house The Post Lounge and Motion Picture Association (MPA) Asia Pacific – the leading global advocacy organisation protecting and promoting the voices of Asia Pacific screenmakers.
17TH ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS NOMINATIONS – FULL LIST
MEDIA CONTACTS
Cathy Gallagher +61 416 227 282 [email protected]
Alicia Brescianini +61 400 225 603 [email protected]