Brisbane, Australia: A record number of films are in contention for the 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the region’s highest accolade in film, with over 290 films from 41 Asia Pacific countries and areas In Competition. APSA was created to recognise, promote and award films that demonstrate cinematic excellence and films that best reflect their cultural origins of the vast Asia Pacific, a region that boasts dynamic and world-class talent.
Nominations in the Best Feature Film and five craft achievements will be determined by the APSA International Nominations Council who arrive in Brisbane, Australia this week, with the 2015 Nominees to be announced in a staggered rollout throughout October.
Returning chair of the APSA International Nominations Council, Professor Hong-Joon Kim will steer the Council of eminent film professionals to determine the nominees in the award achievements of Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best Performance by both Actress and Actor.
For the first time in 2015, the APSA International Nominations Council will determine nominees in the prestigious APSA UNESCO Award achievement. The UNESCO Award is presented to a film practitioner and film from the region for the outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of the cultural diversity through the medium of film.
All nominees, International Nominations Council and APSA Jury members are inducted into the APSA Academy presided over by President, Australian screen Legend Dr Jack Thompson. The Academy boasts over 750 of the region’s leading filmmakers and provides exclusive networking, development and funding opportunities available to Academy members through the APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize, the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, the APSA Academy Children’s Film Fund and Academy mentoring opportunities for the next generation of Asia Pacific filmmakers through the Asia Pacific Screen Lab. The APSA’s Academy partner, the European Film Academy shares the common interest of presenting pan-International Awards that promote and award excellence in cinema.
The Awards, now with a permanent home in Brisbane; Australia’s New World City, are presented by Treasury Casino & Hotel, supported by Brisbane City Council and managed by economic development board Brisbane Marketing. APSA has the privilege of a unique collaboration with Paris-based UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations, and recognises and promotes cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and is responsible for half of the world’s film output.
The field of competition films is gathered through an invitation and submission process; through an official invitation from APSA and through the vital international networking program of the Official Submitting Organisations throughout Asia Pacific who submit films to APSA to represent their country’s cinematic industry.
Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Michael Hawkins said “We welcome to Brisbane the International Nominations Council and in particular Professor Kim who has expertly directed this difficult and important work since 2007.”
Now in his 9th year as Council Chair, Professor Kim is joined on the 2015 APSA International Nominations Council by a distinguished group of film professionals representing expertise across all :
- Gulnara Abikeyeva (Kazakhstan): Film critic, Film Researcher, Artistic Director
- Anne Démy-Geroe (Australia): Co-Director, Iranian Film Festival Australia
- Igor Gouskov (Russia): Film Critic, Journalist
- Meenakshi Shedde (India): Film Critic, Film Curator, Film Festival Consultant
- Mary Stephen (Hong Kong): Film Editor
- Maxine Williamson (Australia): Film Director, APSA & Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival
The APSA International Nominations Council will, for six days, view last-minute feature narrative In Competition titles at the Griffith Film School’s state-of-the-art screening facility, and will deliberate to determine the nominees with a voting process under the scrutiny of professional services firm PwC.
Winners in the 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be announced during a gala ceremony in Brisbane on Thursday 26 November.