Russian writer/director Andrey Zvyagintsev began his career as an actor for television and stage. His feature film directorial debut came in 2003 with The Return, which won awards all around the world, including the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where it also won the CinemAvvenire Award for Best First Feature and three other awards. His next movie, The Banishment, was nominated for the 2007 Cannes Palme d’Or. In 2011, his third feature film, Elena, won the Special Jury Prize Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned him an APSA High Commendation for directing in 2011. As a writer, Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin won Best Screenplay in the main competition for this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Leviathan.
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.
