Adam Goodes documentary The Australian Dream and Australia’s official submission for the Academy Awards®, Buoyancy have been nominated for the 13th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA).
The full list of nominees were revealed today alongside the Asia Pacific Screen Forum, an exciting program of public and industry events from November 18 culminating with the glittering awards ceremony on 21 November.
37 films from 22 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific achieved nominations, drawn from the 289 films in APSA competition.
Films from India, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation will vie for the coveted Best Feature Film prize.
Competing for Best Feature Film are:
– So Long, My Son, which grapples with China’s controversial one-child policy;
– Balloon, a poetic rumination of life on the Tibetan grasslands;
– Russia’s official Academy Awards® submission and post-World War II Leningrad tale Beanpole;
– The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain, which follows two shepherds searching for a downed aircraft in the remote Himalayas; and
– Korea’s critical and box office smash hit Parasite, which won the top prize at Cannes.
Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Adrian Schrinner said the Asia Pacific Screen Awards continues to grow in reputation as an event that brings together the many cultures and voices of the region.
“For the local and global screen industry, Brisbane is becoming a hub for screen business each November,” Cr Schrinner said.
“The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is an important week in Brisbane’s cultural calendar, and this year we are thrilled to present free events to the public.”
The program includes free screenings of the APSA-nominated animation films at GoMA, and a special National Film and Sound Archive screening of the iconic Sunday Too Far Away, followed by a rare panel discussion between screen legend Jack Thompson and iconic Australian actor David Wenham.
For industry, The Asia Pacific Screen Forum will present a program of events and opportunities to cement ties between the filmmakers and screen industries of the region, unlocking opportunities for the local industry connect and collaborate.”
APSA also continues to be a drawcard for screen-based conferences and events, with this year, the region’s leading computer animation festival SIGGRAPH Asia confirmed for Brisbane, presenting yet more opportunities for industry.
Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and its Academy, Michael Hawkins congratulated the nominees.
“APSA ignites and honours cinematic excellence, across the vast region of Asia Pacific,” he said.
“The spread of nominees encompasses some of the region’s most acclaimed auteurs and outstanding emerging voices and APSA is proud to foster their development and opportunities through the Asia Pacific Screen Forum and their induction to the Asia Pacific Screen Academy.”
APSA represents the 70 countries and areas of Asia Pacific, covering one third of the earth, and encompassing 4.5 billion people and half the world’s film.
APSA is an international cultural program supported by Brisbane City Council and powered by Brisbane Marketing. APSA is endorsed by foundation partners UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations. The awards ceremony is an exclusive presentation unique to Brisbane.
Chinese productions lead with a total of 13 nominations across seven films and are represented in all but one category.
Cinematographers Yu Ninghui and Deng Xu received their first APSA nomination for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan), a film inspired by the 14th century scroll artwork that gives this immersive film its name.
Two Chinese films are nominated for Best Youth Feature Film: Bai Xue’s The Crossing (Guo Chun Tian), about a teenage girl smuggling smartphones across the border from Hong Kong, and Wang Lina’s A First Farewell (Di yi ci de li bie), spoken in Uyghur language and set in a remote Chinese village as a young Muslim boy learns what it means to say goodbye.
One Child Nation (People’s Republic of China, USA), an investigation inspired by motherhood into the lasting effects of China’s one-child policy from directors Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, is nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
Iranian films received a total of six nominations across five films, with two leading Iranian actors competing for Best Performance by an Actor. Navid Mohammadzadeh has received his third nomination in the category, for his portrayal as a task force officer beginning to question the violent tactics of the war on drugs in Just 6.5 (Metri Shisho Nim). He previously received a Special Mention for No Date, No Signature (Dedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza) in 2017, and a nomination for his feature-lead debut in 2014 for Reza Dormishian’s I’m Not Angry! (Asabani Nistam!). He is up against actor Mohsen Tanabandeh, who stars as an Afghan refugee in Israel who is trying to bring his family to join him in Rona, Azim’s Mother (Rona, Madar-e Azim, Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan), while the film is also nominated for the Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO.
Also nominated from Iran is documentary Narrow Red Line (Khat-e Barik-e Ghermez) by Farzad Khoshdast, which follows a group of young men in an Iranian juvenile rehabilitation and correction centre. Mohsen Gharaei and Mohammad Davoodi receive their first APSA nod for their moving screenplay for Castle of Dreams (Ghasr-e Shirin).
Both New Zealand and Islamic Republic of Iran have been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film for the first time, including Kirby Atkins’ fantastical creature adventure Mosley (New Zealand, People’s Republic of China) and Iranian Behzad Nalbandi’s story of Tehran’s homeless women swept aside by Iran’s urban beautification policies in the cardboard-animated documentary The Unseen (Kaghaz-Pareh ha).
Russia’s official Academy Awards® submission Beanpole (Dylda), produced by 2018 APSA International Jury President Alexander Rodnyansky alongside Sergey Melkumov and directed by Kantemir Balagov, is nominated for Best Feature Film, and also received nods for its screenplay (Kantemir Balagov, Alexander Terekhov), cinematography (Ksenia Sereda) and for the debut feature film performance of actress Viktoria Miroshnichenko. Set in post-World War II Leningrad, the film centres on two women who become connected as they attempt to search for meaning and hope amid the city’s destruction and ruins.
Two Indian films received two nominations each. Acclaimed Indian actor Manoj Bajpayee, who won the category in 2016 for Aligarh and was nominated in 2012 for Gangs of Wasseypur, is again nominated for his performance in Devashish Makhija’s Bhonsle, while the film has also been honoured in the Cultural Diversity category. Bajpayee stars as conflicted retired policeman who forms an unlikely friendship with two migrant children.
Ridham Janve’s debut feature film set in the remote Himalayas, The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain (Sona Dhwandi Bhed Te Suchha Pahad), is nominated for Best Feature Film, and also for the feature debut of cinematographer Saurabh Monga.
Cannes winning and APSA nominated Ayka (2018) actress Samal Yeslyamova received her second APSA nomination for the Kazakhstan, Japan production The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time which opened the Busan International Film Festival last week.
Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov is nominated for Achievement in Directing for his film-noir A Dark, Dark Man. Yerzhanov was awarded the APSA NETPAC Development Prize in 2013 for Constructors (Stroiteli), and went on to be nominated for Best Feature Film in 2014 for The Owners (Ukkili Kamshat) and again in 2018 for The Gentle Indifference of the World (Laskovoe Bezrazlichie Mira), for which he also received a screenplay nomination.
Australian films received two nominations, with Australia’s Academy Award® submission Buoyancy, a thriller shot in Cambodia by writer/director Rodd Rathjen, nominated for Best Youth Feature Film, and a documentary nomination for Daniel Gordon’s deeply personal exploration of race, identity and belonging in the aftermath of the racist backlash against footballer Adam Goodes in The Australian Dream.
Films from Israel received two nominations. Actor and retired Israeli army paratrooper and police detective Eran Naim is nominated for his fourth collaboration with director Yaron Shani in Chained (Eynayim Sheli). Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaïche’s documentary Advocate, an intimate portrait of legendary and controversial human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel and fighter for the Palestinian people, is also nominated.
Two films from Philippines have received nominations. Lav Diaz is nominated for Achievement in Directing for his dystopian future film The Halt (Ang Hupa), in the first ever APSA nomination for the Filipino auteur. Rising star Max Eigenmann is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’ Verdict.
Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat and her producer Katja Adomeit, nominated in 2017 for Best Youth Feature Film for Wolf and Sheep, have been nominated in the same category in 2019 for the film’s follow up, focusing again on Afghan youth in The Orphanage (Parwareshgah).
Films from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand have received one nomination each.
One of only a handful of female directors from Bangladesh, Rubaiyat Hossain is nominated for the Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO for Made in Bangladesh, a powerful story of women working in textile factory who attempt to unionize to improve conditions, despite threats and opposition. This is Hossain’s first APSA nomination, she was inducted into the APSA Academy in 2018 as a member of the Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury.
Bhutan received its second APSA nomination with the feature debut from Tashi Gyeltshen, The Red Phallus, a teenage girl’s coming of age story set in a society dominated by repressive men, being nominated for Best Youth Feature Film. The nomination follows 2017’s Cultural Diversity under the patronge of UNESCO nomination for Dechen Roder’s Honeygiver Among The Dogs (Munmo Tashi Khyidron),
Georgian writer/director Tamar Shavgulidze is nominated for Best Screenplay for her second feature, Comets, a complex and multi-layered relationship drama set in the Georgian countryside.
Malaysian cinematographer Teoh Gay Hian, known for his work on Garin Nugroho’s APSA nominated and winning films Opera Jawa (2007) and Memories of My Body (2018), has received his first APSA nomination for Indonesian filmmaker Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Science of Fictions (Hiruk-Pikuk Si-Alkisah).
The two directors of Thai film Krabi, 2562 both known for their experimental approach to their work, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Ben Rivers, have been nominated for Achievement in Directing, and are now recognised in a field which includes some of the region’s top auteurs.
NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE FILM
Balloon (Qìqiú)
People’s Republic of China
Directed by Pema TSEDEN
Produced by HUANG Xufeng, Jacky PANG
Beanpole (Dylda)
Russian Federation
Directed by Kantemir BALAGOV
Produced by Alexander RODNYANSKY, Sergey MELKUMOV
The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain (Sona Dhwandi Bhed Te Suchha Pahad)
India
Directed by Ridham JANVE
Produced by Akshay SINGH, Ridham JANVE
Parasite (Gisaengchung)
Republic of Korea
Directed by BONG Joon -ho
Produced by KWAK Sin-ae, MOON Yang-kwon, JANG Young-hwan
So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
Directed by WANG Xiaoshuai
Produced by LIU Xuan
BEST YOUTH FEATURE FILM
Buoyancy
Australia
Directed by Rodd RATHJEN
Produced by Samantha JENNINGS, Kristina CEYTON, Rita WALSH
The Crossing (Guo Chun Tian)
People’s Republic of China
Directed by BAI Xue
Produced by Cary CHENG
A First Farewell (Di yi ci de li bie)
People’s Republic of China
Directed by WANG Lina
Produced by CAI Qingzeng, QIN Xiaoyu
The Orphanage (Parwareshgah)
Afghanistan, Denmark, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Qatar
Directed by Shahrbanoo SADAT
Produced by Katja ADOMEIT
The Red Phallus
Bhutan, Nepal, Germany
Directed by Tashi GYELTSHEN
Produced by Tashi GYELTSHEN, Kristina KONRAD, Ram Krishna POKHAREL
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Mosley
New Zealand, People’s Republic of China
Directed by Kirby ATKINS
Produced by Daniel STORY, Bill BOYCE
Penguin Highway
Japan
Directed by Hiroyasu ISHIDA
Produced by Yoko MATSUZAKI, Koji YAMAMOTO
Underdog
Republic of Korea
Directed by OH Sung-yoon, LEE Choon-baek
Produced by OH Sung-yoon
The Unseen (Kaghaz-Pareh ha)
Islamic Republic of Iran
Directed by Behzad NALBANDI
Produced by Behzad NALBANDI
Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko)
Japan
Directed by Makoto Shinkai
Produced by Genki Kawamura
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Advocate
Israel, Canada, Switzerland
Directed by Rachel Leah JONES, Philippe BELLAÏCHE
Produced by Philippe BELLAÏCHE, Rachel Leah JONES, Paul CADIEUX, Joëlle BERTOSSA
Aquarela
United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark
Directed by Victor KOSSAKOVSKY
Produced by Aimara REQUES, Heino DECKERT, Sigrid DYEKJÆR
The Australian Dream
Australia, United Kingdom
Directed by Daniel GORDON
Produced by Sarah THOMSON, Nick BATZIAS, Virginia WHITWELL, John BATTSEK
Narrow Red Line (Khat-e Barik-e Ghermez)
Islamic Republic of Iran
Directed by Farzad Khoshdast
Produced by Negar Eskandarfar, Farzad Khoshdast
One Child Nation
People’s Republic of China, United States of America
Directed by Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang
Produced by Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christoph Jörg, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Adilkhan YERZHANOV for A Dark, Dark Man
Kazakhstan, France
Lav DIAZ for The Halt (Ang Hupa)
Philippines
Elia SULEIMAN for It Must Be Heaven
Palestine, Qatar, Turkey, Canada, France, Germany
Anocha SUWICHAKORNPONG, Ben RIVERS for Krabi, 2562
Thailand, United Kingdom
WANG Xiaoshuai for So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
BEST SCREENPLAY
Pema TSEDEN for Balloon (Qìqiú)
People’s Republic of China
Kantemir BALAGOV, Alexander TEREKHOV for Beanpole (Dylda)
Russian Federation
Mohsen Gharaei, Mohammad Davoudi for Castle of Dreams (Ghasr-e Shirin)
Islamic Republic of Iran
Tamar SHAVGULIDZE for Comets
Georgia
A Mei, WANG Xiaoshuai for So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ksenia SEREDA for Beanpole (Dylda)
Russian Federation
YU Ninghui, DENG Xu for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan)
People’s Republic of China
Saurabh MONGA for The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain (Sona Dhwandi Bhed Te Suchha Pahad)
India
Teoh Gay HIAN for The Science of Fictions (Hiruk-Pikuk Si-Alkisah)
Indonesia, Malaysia, France
KIM Hyunseok for So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Viktoria MIROSHNICHENKO for Beanpole (Dylda)
Russian Federation
Samal YESLYAMOVA for The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time
Kazakhstan, Japan
Ji-hu PARK for House of Hummingbird (Beol-sae)
Republic of Korea, United States of America
YONG Mei for So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
Max EIGENMANN for Verdict
Philippines, France
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Manoj BAJPAYEE for Bhonsle
India
Eran NAIM for Chained (Eynayim Sheli)
Israel, Germany
Navid Mohammadzadeh for Just 6.5 (Metri Shisho Nim)
Islamic Republic of Iran
Mohsen TANABANDEH for Rona, Azim’s Mother (Rona, Madar-e Azim)
Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan
WANG Jingchun for So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang)
People’s Republic of China
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF UNESCO
Bhonsle
India
Directed by Devashish MAKHIJA
Produced by Abhayanand SINGH, Shabana Raza BAJPAYEE, Sandiip KAPUR, Piiyush SINGH, Saurabh GUPTA
It Must Be Heaven
Palestine, Qatar, Turkey, Canada, France, Germany
Directed by Elia SULEIMAN
Produced by Édouard WEIL, Laurine PELASSY, Elia SULEIMAN, Thanassis KARATHANOS, Martin HAMPEL, Serge NOËL
Made in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, France, Denmark, Portugal
Directed by Rubaiyat HOSSAIN
Produced by François d’ARTEMARE, Ashique MOSTAFA
Rona, Azim’s Mother (Rona, Madar-e Azim)
Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan
Directed by Jamshid MAHMOUDI
Produced by Navid MAHMOUDI
The Sun Above Me Never Sets (Min urduber kyun khahan da kiirbet)
Russian Federation
Directed by Liubov BORISOVA
Produced by Dmitrii SHADRIN, Sardana SAVVINA
