As a member of the European Film Academy (EFA), renowned Swiss writer and director Christoph Schaub’s appointment highlights the important alliance between the APSA Academy and the EFA, established in 2011. Schaub has directed 18 documentaries and 10 feature films, which have screened to wide festival acclaim and seen him nominated for the Swiss Film Prize five times. Schaub’s fascinating documentaries have a particular focus on architectural and urban themes. His feature documentary in the Asia Pacific region, Bird’s Nest – Herzog & de Meuron in China (2008), follows two Swiss star architects on two very different projects: the national stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and an entire district in the provincial town of Jinhua, China. The documentary follows architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron who, with artist Ai Weiwei as their general adviser and so-called ‘cultural interpreter’, literally build bridges between two cultures, two architectural traditions and two political systems. Schaub’s documentary, Millions Can Walk, is the story of the 2012 month-long walk across India by many of its poorest people; the Jan Satyagraha, meaning March for Righteousness, which began on the anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday, October 2. Christoph Schaub has served on many juries including the 7th APSA International Jury in 2013 and the 10th APSA Youth, Animation and Documentary International Jury in 2016.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.