The names of some big films from the Asia-Pacific region pepper the nominees in the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) Youth, Animation and Documentary Feature Film categories, announced today along with the International Jury who will determine the winners in each of the three awards. The winners will be announced at the prestigious APSA Ceremony on Thursday 24 November in Brisbane, Australia, with nominees in attendance.
The biggest name in the nominees list is SEOUL STATION, the animated prequel to South Korean box-office sensation Train to Busan. Also notable is the excellent expose of North Korea, UNDER THE SUN, which debuted in Australia at the Sydney Film Festival this year. The only Australian film included in the competition films, listed below, is SNOW MONKEY, following photojournalists on a first-hand journey through an Afghanistan. Check out the complete list here.
The APSA Youth, Animation & Documentary Jury is chaired by film critic, author and expert festival programmer Chris Fujiwara (USA) together with Mumbai Film Festival selection committee member and childrens arts and education advocate Nira Benegal (India) and former APSA International Jury member, writer, and feature and documentary filmmaker Christoph Shaub (Switzerland) whose appointment highlights the ten-year relationship between the European Film Academy (EFA) and APSA. The Prresident of the APSA Academy is Australian screen legend Jack Thompson AM PhD.
APSA Best Youth Feature Film
- BREATH (Nafas,Islamic Republic of Iran): which world premiered at Fajr Film Festival this year winning awards in both the National and International Competition
- THE QUEST (Ringan, India) Winner of Best Marathi Film at 63rd National Film Awards in India
- THE TRAP (Ottaal, India) Berlinale Crystal Bear Generation Kplus winner, Malayalam film
- WOLF AND SHEEP (Afghanistan, Denmark, France, Sweden) which world premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, picking up the Art Cinema Award
- THE WORLD OF US (Woorideul, Republic of Korea) which world premiered and was nominated for the Crystal Bear in Berlinale’s 2016 Generation Kplus program
APSA Best Animated Feature Film
- BILAL (United Arab Emirates, USA): the UAE’s first animated featurewhich picked up Best Inspiring Movie at Cannes’ 2016 Animation Day Festival in May
- MANANG BIRING (Philippines) which was selected for Annecy International Film Festival and won both Best Film & Best Music in Philippines’ Cinema One Originals Film Festival
- SAVVA (Russian Federation) selected for Dubai International Film Festival
- SEOUL STATION (Seoul-yeok,Republic of Korea) which world premiered In Competition at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival
- SHEEP AND WOLVES (Volki i Ovtsy, Russian Federation) was screened In Competition at Annecy International Animation Festival this year
APSA Best Documentary Feature
- CITY OF JADE (Fei Cui Zhi Cheng, Taiwan, Republic of the Union of Myanmar): APSA’s firstnomination for a film from Republic of the Union of Myanmar
- EXILE (Exil,Cambodia, France), presented as a Special Screening at Cannes Film Festival this year, nominated for the festival’s L’Œil d’or (Golden Eye) documentary award
- SNOW MONKEY (Australia, Norway), the only Australian documentary In Competition at the prestigious International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in 2015
- STARLESS DREAMS (Royahaye Dame Sobh,Islamic Republic of Iran), multi-award winner including Best Director at both Iran’s Cinema Verite and Eastern Pamorama Fajr Film Festival
- UNDER THE SUN (V Luchakh Solnca,Russian Federation, Germany, Czech Republic, Latvia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) which picked up both the Jury Prize for Best Director and a Special Jury Prize at last year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
