The nominees for the sixth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) have been announced with 34 films nominated from 18 countries in the region. A record number of 264 films were entered this year.
Acclaimed Australian producer Jan Chapman will head a six-member trans-national jury which will decide the winner of Best Feature Film along with winners of five major craft awards, the Screen International Jury Grand Prize and the UNESCO Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity in film.
The nominees for Best Feature Film include: Khers (Bear, Islamic Republic of Iran), Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill, Turkey, Greece), Orda (The Horde, Russian Federation), Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, Republic of Korea) and Wu Xia (Hong Kong (PRC)).
The winners of Best Children’s Feature Film, Best Animated Feature Film and Documentary will be decided by APSA Academy members.
Australian film Happy Feet 2 was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. The follow-up to Happy Feet was directed by George Miller and grossed more than $US150 million worldwide to date, according to Box Office Mojo. The film was produced at Dr D. Studios in Sydney.
Nominated for Best Children’s Feature Film is Australia Sheli (My Australia, produced in Poland and Israel), produced by Marek Rozenbaum, Itai Tamir, Dariusz Jablonski, Violetta Kaminska and Izabela Wojcikl. Entirely in Polish and Hebrew with English subtitles, the film presents a heartwarming narrative of Halina, attempting to bring up her teenage sons in 1960s Poland amid the threat of racial tensions and poverty.
Australia could be interpreted as having been utilized as an extended metaphor for new opportunity and the definition of home in the film, creating an interesting conflict of racial stereotypes and idioms that captivates the viewer. Given the complex mix of cultural symbols from across the globe, this film is in with a strong chance of winning.
The winners of APSA will be announced on November 23 in Brisbane, Australia. The ceremony is televised to 44 countries in Asia, the Pacific and India via the ABC’s Australia network. In Australia the ceremony is broadcast on SBS.
A full list of nominees can be found at the APSA website.