Born in 1984 in Kazakhstan, Emir Baigazin graduated from the Kazakh National Academy of Arts in 2009. In 2007, his project Steppe was selected for hands-on training at the Asian Film Academy during the Busan International Film Festival and in February 2008, Baigazin participated at the Berlinale Talent Campus. His debut feature, Harmony Lessons, participated at Locarno Open Doors 2011, won Spotlight: New Kazakh Cinema at the Eurasia Film Festival in September 2011 and the main prize at the Work-in-Progress Section of the Sarajevo International Film Festival. The film was awarded the Berlinale World Cinema Fund and received support from Aide aux Cinémas du Monde.
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.
