2023 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Recipient

Ahmed Al-Daradji was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1986. After graduating with a Bachelors in Audio & Visual Arts from the University of Baghdad, he worked as a director of photography, writer and director for Baghdad-based satellite stations and companies.

In 2004, he got a job as a sound recordist on the feature Ahlaam produced in the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq. He then scripted, edited & did sound on the short film My Name is Mohammed and worked as a production assistant & sound recordist on the feature, Son of Babylon.

Eventually he moved to London where he got his MA in filmmaking at London Film School. Whilst in London he shot his third short Between the Two Banks. Before directing his first feature, Hanging Gardens, he participated in the Iraq 35mm short film workshop, writing and directing his latest short, Children of God.

Born in 1984 in Singapore, Anthony Chen enrolled in Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies at an early age of 17 to pursue his passion for filmmaking. He graduated from film school with his graduation film, G-23(2005), which screened at multiple festivals worldwide and won awards in Europe and Asia. His second short film, Ah Ma (Grandma) (2007), was nominated for the Palme d’Or for Short Film at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, and was awarded a Special Mention. Haze (2008), his next short, screened in competition at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival.

Collectively, his shorts have screened at numerous prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Busan, London, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Sydney, Montreal, Melbourne, Chicago and Hawaii. In 2009, he was accorded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore. In 2010, he completed his Masters in Film Directing at the National Film and Television School, UK. Anthony is currently based in London.

His debut feature, Ilo Ilo (2013), was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Camera d’Or for Best Debut Feature, the first award for a Singapore feature film at Cannes. It picked up over 30 other awards at festivals worldwide including four Golden Horse Awards (Best Feature Film, Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress) at the 50th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, the equivalent of the Oscars for Chinese-speaking people worldwide. Ilo Ilo was Singapore’s official entry into the 2014 Academy Awards. Anthony has also been recently named as Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch.

Rima Das, a filmmaker from India, is known for making indigenous and realistic stories that explore complicated relationships, finding purpose, coming of age and life amidst nature. Her films Village Rockstars and Bulbul Can Sing premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and were screened at over 120 prestigious film festivals around the world, winning over 70 awards including National Film Awards in India. Village Rockstars was also India’s official entry to the Academy Awards 2019. She has donned multiple hats of writer, director, producer, cinematographer and editor for her projects.

GQ India named Rima Das as one of the Most Influential Young Indians of 2018. She is also one of the Brand Ambassadors of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Share Her Journey campaign that champions the cause of gender equality in cinema. She has been on the jury of the Berlin International Film Festival Generation 14plus, the Mumbai International Film Festival, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and the Zlin Film Festival for Children & Youth.

Born in 1980, Tamar Shavgulidze studied at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University. Tamar is a Georgian writer-director whose debut feature Born in Georgia (2011) screened at the Tbilisi Film Festival. In 2019, she wrote and directed Comets for which she received an APSA nomination for Best Screenplay.