By Rama Gaind
The fourth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be held on Australia’s Gold Coast next month when nominees and international screen industry guests will gather to honour the outstanding works of the Asia-Pacific.
Thirty-one documentary, animated, children’s and feature films from 15 countries and areas have been nominated for Asia-Pacific’s highest accolade in film with Best Feature nominees from Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the People’s Republic of China.
Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), from the People’s Republic of China, has received a record six nominations in the 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), unanimously praised by the APSA Nominations Council for its ability to deftly balance a large scale epic story with the intimate drama of one family dealing with the aftermath of the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake that took the lives of 240,000 people.
Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), the highest grossing domestic film of all time in China, has been nominated for Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress. Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock) was directed by Feng Xiaogang.
Winners in the fourth annual APSAs will be determined by an International Jury headed by Academy Award-winning producer Lord David Puttnam and announced at a Ceremony on Australia’s Gold Coast on December 2. These awards, an initiative of the Queensland Government, Australia in unique collaboration with UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations – acclaim films from 70 countries and areas; one third of the earth; and half the world’s film output. Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins. A total of 239 films were entered in the competition by Official Submitting Organisations from the region and by invitation from the APSA Nominations Council and APSA Chairman.
The second most nominated film in the 2010 APSAs is Shi (Poetry, Republic of Korea), written and directed by Lee Chang-dong, which has received four nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Best Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actress for Yun Jung-hee. Lee Chang-dong accepted the Award for Best Feature Film in the inaugural 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Miryang (Secret Sunshine), which also received the Best Performance by an Actress Award for Jeon Do-yeon. Chang-dong’s brother Lee Joon-dong is the producer of Shi (Poetry) and he also produced, along with Chang-dong, 2009 APSA Winner Ya Haeng Ja (A Brand New Life). Shi (Poetry) was in Official Competition at the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival where Lee Chang-dong won the Best Screenplay award for the film.
Mengjia (Monga), the stylish gangster film and box office success from Taiwan, directed by Doze Niu Chen-zer and produced by Lee Lieh and Doze Niu Chen-zer, has received three nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography. Bal (Honey), from Turkey, directed and produced by Semih Kaplanoðlu, has also received three nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography. Winner of the Golden Bear Award at the 2010 Berlinale, Bal (Honey) is the third film in Kaplanoðlu’s Yusuf Trilogy. The final nominee in the Best Feature Film category is Paju from the Republic of Korea, also nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for Seo Woo. Paju is directed by one of Korea’s most notable female filmmakers, Park Chan-Ok, and produced by Kim Ju-kyung and Lee Eun.
Several of the nominees were also recently selected as official country submissions for the Best Foreign Language category in the 83rd Academy Awards including: Shui Yuet Sun Tau (Echoes of the Rainbow) representing Hong Kong; The Human Resources Manager representing Israel; Mengjia (Monga) representing Taiwan; Bal (Honey) representing Turkey; and Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock) representing China.
The 2010 Nominees are automatically inducted into the Academy of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards making them eligible to apply for the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, a new US$100,000 script development fund supported by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and available exclusively to Academy members. The film fund submission period closed on October 29 and the fund’s inaugural recipients will be announced at the APSA ceremony on December 2.
Led by Patron Jack Thompson, the Academy is a growing body of the region’s most influential names in film including past APSA nominees, International Jury and Nominations Council members.
