2016 International Jury

President of the International Jury of the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2010, Lord David Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent producer of award-winning films before retiring from film production in 1998 to focus on his work in public policy as it relates to education, the environment, and the creative and communications industries.

His films, including The Mission, The Killing Fields and Chariots of Fire, have won ten Oscars, 25 Baftas and the Palme D’Or at Cannes. After an 18 year ‘career break’ from film production, he has returned to oversee the production of an environmental drama, Arctic 30, based on Ben Stewart’s book ‘Don’t Trust, Don’t Fear, Don’t Beg, The Extraordinary Story of the Arctic 30’.

Lord Puttnam’s considerable time spent in senior policy positions has included Vice President and Chair of Trustees at the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), President of UNICEF UK, engaging with issues as diverse as water security and child trafficking, Deputy Chairman of Channel 4 Television, founding Chair of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and Chair of both the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and the National Film and Television School. He has also served as a trustee of the Tate Gallery, the Science Museum, the Thomson Foundation and a great number of other organisations.

Lord Puttnam was awarded a CBE in 1982, a knighthood in 1995, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. In France he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1985, becoming an Officer in 1992, and a Commander in 2006. He has been the recipient of more than 40 honorary degrees from Universities in the UK and overseas.
In 2007 he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill, and in 2012 he was appointed the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

He is currently the Republic of Ireland’s Digital Champion; President of the Film Distributors’ Association; Chair of the TSL Advisory Board; Chair of the Academic Board, Pearson College; a UNICEF Ambassador, and Adjunct Professor of Film Studies and Digital Humanities at University College Cork, and this year, appointed as an International Ambassador for the WWF.

David Puttnam is also the chair of Atticus Education, an online education company based in Ireland that delivers interactive seminars on film and a variety of other subjects to educational institutions around the world.

7th APSA, International Jury President, 2013
International Jury President for the 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2013, Shyam Benegal has made 26 feature films, several documentaries and television series including, notably, a 53-hour TV series on the History of India. He has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times, first in 1975 and as recently as 2000, and has won 28 in other categories.

His debut feature Ankur in 1974 confirmed Mr Benegal as a member of India’s New Wave Cinema. Nominated for the Golden Bear at the 24th Berlinale, Ankur was India’s Official Entry for the Academy Awards®, received the three National Film Awards and introduced actress Shabana Azmi (Inaugural APSA Jury President 2007) to the screen.

Among his many national and international awards are two of the Government of India’s most prestigious awards. In 1976 he received the Padma Shri, awarded in recognition of distinguished contribution of a citizen of India in various spheres of activity including the Arts, and in 1991 he received the even more prestigious Padma Bhushan, awarded to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.

Shyam Benegal is also the recipient of the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award, 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement 2005. In 2007, he was awarded the honorary title of Doctor of Letters from the Jamia Millia University, New Delhi and also from University of Calcutta in 2011. Shyam Benegal was a Homi Bhabha fellow (1970-72) during which time he studied Children’s Television with CTW in New York and worked as Associate Producer with WGBH, Boston. He has lectured at many institutions in India and abroad and has participated in seminars on subjects dealing with Cinema, Television, Information Technology and aspects of social and cultural change.

Shyam Benegal runs a film production company in Mumbai and was a Member of the Indian Parliament’s Upper House, Rajya Sabha, from 2006 to 2012.

6th APSA, International Jury President, 2012
International Jury President for the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2012, Jan Chapman has produced some of Australia’s most critically successful and popular films – including Palme d’Or nominated Bright Star, AFI Best Film winner Lantana and Academy Award® winner The Piano.

Jan’s most recent production (with Nicole O’Donohue) was The Daughter written and directed by Simon Stone. The film premiered in competition at the 2015 Sydney Film Festival and was selected to screen at the Venice, Toronto and London International film festivals and was released in Australia in 2016. Jan has supported and nurtured the careers of some of Australia’s most talented filmmakers and was the executive producer on Somersault, Suburban Mayhem, Griff the Invisible and The Babadook. Her films have won many awards including co-recipient of the Palme d’Or at Cannes (The Piano, 1993), three Academy Awards® (The Piano, 1994), Camera d’Or at Cannes (Love Serenade, 1996), over 38 Australian Film Institute Awards, and have had numerous screenings and honours across the globe at the world’s top film festivals including Venice, Toronto, Berlin and Cannes.

In 2004, Jan was honoured for her outstanding contribution to the Australian film industry as the recipient of the Order of Australia.

An icon of Korean Cinema and a loved and admired figure internationally, Kim Dong-Ho’s accomplished career in the industry is truly peerless. An actor, director and producer, Mr Kim is the founder and now Chairman of the Busan International Film Festival, one of the leading events of its kind in the world.

Mr Kim is the former Chairman of the Presidential Committee of Cultural Enrichment, the highest appointment of its kind in the country, and former President of the Seoul Art Centre.

Mr Kim has won countless international awards for his work both in film and in the cultural development of the Republic of Korea. He has been bestowed with the highest civilian award given by the French government, the Knight of the Legion of Honor; the prestigious UNESCO Fellini Medal (2007), a tribute to major figures in the film industry; and Republic of Korea’s National Order of Culture, Silver Crown Award.

His strong belief in the importance of education led him to establish the highly regarded Graduate School of Cinematic Contents at Dankook University.

Stepping behind the camera, Mr Kim directed his first short film, Jury, in 2012 and in 2014, he executive produced the multi-award-winning drama 10 Minutes. He has published two books, ‘History of Korean Cinema Policy’ (2005) and ‘Mr Kim Goes to Festivals’ (2010).

5th APSA, International Jury President, 2011
International Jury President for the 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2011, Nansun Shi is an esteemed producer whose prolific credits include blockbuster hits such as The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D (2011), Young Detective Dee – Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) and The Taking of Tiger Mountain(2014). Ms Shi was pivotal in the success of Cinema City and Film Workshop Co Ltd., which she founded with internationally acclaimed Producer and Director Tsui Hark.

Nansun Shi was a juror on the Berlin International Film Festival’s main competition in 2007 and in 2011 she served on the Cannes Film Festival Jury, presided over by Robert De Niro. In 2013, the French Government honoured Ms Shi with the title of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2014, the 67th Locarno Film Festival honoured her with the Premio Raimondo Rezzonico for Best Independent Producer. 2015 saw Ms Shi honoured with both the Golden Mulberry Life Achievement Award from the 17th Udine Far East Film Festival and the Marie Claire Asia Star Awards’ Special Achievement Award from the 20th Busan International Film Festival.