Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen made her debut as an actress in 1961 in Satyajit Ray’s Two Daughters. She has since acted in the films of several noted film directors including Mrinal Sen, James Ivory, Tapan Sinha and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Aparna’s directorial debut, 36 Chowringhee Lane, won the Grand Prix (The Golden Eagle) at the Manila International Film Festival and Aparna received India’s National Award for Best Direction for the same film. Mr and Mrs Iyer written and directed by Aparna had its world premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival and has won several major international awards including the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film at the Hawaii and Las Palmas Film Festivals. It has also won the National Awards in India for Best Direction, Best Screenplay and Best Actress in the year 2003.
Aparna has just finished her latest film production, The Japanese Wife which she wrote the screenplay for and directed. Retrospectives of Aparna’s films have been held in London, Munich and at Nandan in Kolkata. Aparna has served on several international film juries including the International Film Festival of India, Moscow and Hawaii. The President of India honoured Aparna with the prestigious Padmashree Award in 1986 in recognition of her contribution to cinema; she was awarded the Satyajit Ray Memorial Millennium for ‘Profound Contribution to Indian Cinema’ and the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cine Central Film Society. Aparna is now the Chief Creative Officer at Saregama India Ltd, responsible for commissioning Bengali films for the company.
Roles
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.