Born in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1973, Shawkat Amin Korki and his family fled from military oppression in 1975, living in exile in Iran for 25 years. Korki returned home and wrote, directed and produced his first feature film in Iraqi Kurdistan, Crossing The Dust (2006). The film won many international prizes and was nominated for the inaugural APSA for Achievement in Directing. His second feature Kick Off (2009) won twelve international awards including Busan’s New Currents Award and FIPRESCI Prize. His third feature, Memories on Stone (2014), has won fourteen awards internationally to date including in 2014 Best Film from the Arab World at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the coveted APSA UNESCO Award and was Iraq’s official Academy Awards® submission. Korki lives and works in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
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.
