Brisbane, Australia: Nominees in the sixth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (the APSAs) were announced today with 34 films from 18 Asia Pacific countries and areas nominated in the region’s highest accolade in film.

Click here to view the full list of 2012 APSA Nominees.

The five films nominated for Best Feature Film are 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), People’s Republic of China).

An unprecedented total of 264 films were entered in this year’s competition. Asia Pacific countries and areas represented by the nominated films are Australia, Hong Kong (PRC), India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestine, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Taiwan and Turkey. Seven of the 2012 nominees are already members of the rapidly expanding APSA Academy.

A six-member International Jury headed by acclaimed Australian producer Jan Chapman will determine the winner of Best Feature Film as well as winners of the 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 through film. APSA Academy members will determine the winners in the Best Children’s, Documentary and Animated Feature Film categories.

All winners in the sixth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be announced at a glittering ceremony on Friday November 23 in Brisbane, Australia.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards, an initiative of the Queensland Government, Australia, are endorsed by UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations. The awards recognise films from 70 countries and areas in Asia Pacific, an area that encompasses one-third of the earth, is home to 4.5 billion people and produces half the world’s film.

Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins.

APSA Patron and founder and honorary festival director of the Busan International Film Festival Kim Dong-Ho said, “The Asia Pacific Screen Awards have emerged as a driving force in the support and promotion of the region’s filmmakers. The APSA Academy has gone from strength to strength since its visionary conception in 2008 by APSA Chairman Des Power. It now counts among its members a diverse and talented group of acclaimed filmmakers that represent not only the quality of filmmaking in the region but also the many cultures that make up our large and varied Asia Pacific region.

“As we further enter what is becoming ever more widely considered the Asia Pacific century, it is only fitting to see such a blossoming academy of filmmakers, akin to those in other areas of the world, such as the European Film Academy with whom APSA has a special relationship. We are proud to announce that APSA Academy members will determine the winners in three categories, again this year.

“This year’s nominees are an outstanding representation of filmmakers from Asia Pacific and I am personally delighted to see Korean nominees in so many categories.”

Nominated for Best Feature Film, Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill, Producers Enis Köstepen, Seyfi Teoman, Emin Alper, Co-Producer Nikos Moutselos) from Turkey and Greece received three nominations in total, with nominations also in the categories of Best Screenplay (Emin Alper) and Best Performance by an Actor for Tamer Levent. Beyond the Hill has already received accolades around the world including the Caligari Film Prize at Berlinale 2012, Best Film, Best Script and the FIPRESCI Award at this year’s Istanbul International Film Festival and the NETPAC Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, among others.

The four other Best Feature Film nominees have received two nominations each:

Khers (Bear, Islamic Republic of Iran) has received nominations for Best Feature Film (Producer Javad Norouzbeigi) and Achievement in Directing for Khosro Masoumi. Bear was recently awarded the Golden Goblet for Best Feature, Shanghai International Film Festival.

Epic historical drama Orda (The Horde, Russian Federation) is nominated for Best Feature Film (Producers Natalya Gostyushina, Sergei Kravets) and Achievement in Cinematography for Yury Raysky. The Horde is the biggest Russian production of 2012.

Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng (Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, Republic of Korea) has received nominations for Best Feature Film (Producers Park Shin-kyu, Han Jae-duk) and Best Performance by an Actor for Choi Min-sik.

Wu Xia (Hong Kong (PRC), People’s Republic of China, Producers Peter Ho-sun Chan, Jojo Hui Yuet-chun. Co-Produced by Lu York, Dong Keyan, Hong Tao, Jiang Wenbo) has also received a nomination for Achievement in Cinematography for Jake Pollock and Lai Yiu-fai. Jake Pollock is an APSA Academy member, having been nominated in the same category for Monga in the 2010 APSAs. Wu Xia screened Out of Competition at Cannes, and was awarded Best Cinematographer at both the Asian Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA), receiving a further nine nominations for the HKFA.

Writer/directors who have received nominations for both Achievement in Directing and Best Screenplay are Cheng Er for Lethal Hostage (People’s Republic of China), and Reis Çelik for Lal gece (Night of Silence, Turkey), winner of the Crystal Bear for Best Film Generation 14plus at the 2012 Berlinale.

Also receiving a nomination for Achievement in Directing is Brillante Ma. Mendoza for Sinapupunan (Thy Womb,Philippines), with the lead actress Nora Aunor nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for her role. Nora Aunor previously starred in Himala which was awarded the CNN APSA Viewers Choice Award for Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time at the 2008 APSAs.

APSA Academy member Anurag Kashyap has been nominated for Achievement in Directing for Gangs of Wasseypur(India). Anurag was previously nominated for an APSA in 2009 for Achievement in Directing for Dev D and again in 2010 for Udaan in the APSA Best Children’s Feature Film category. Lead actor in Gangs of Wasseypur, Manoj Bajpayee, is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor.

Bol (Pakistan) has received two nominations – Best Screenplay for Shoaib Mansoor and Best Performance by an Actress for Humaima Malick. Bol achieved a new box office record for Pakistani cinema with the strongest first-week box office takings in Pakistani history.

The fifth nominee in the Best Screenplay category is Chris Martinez for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank, Philippines).

Bahman Ghobadi’s Fasle Kargadan (Rhino Season, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Turkey) received a nomination for Achievement in Cinematography for Touraj Aslani, recent winner of the Best Cinematography prize at the 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival in October. Starring celebrated Iranian actor Behrouz Vossoughi and Italian actress Monica Bellucci, Rhino Season had its world premiere only weeks ago at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was presented by Martin Scorsese.

Also nominated for Achievement in Cinematography are Charin Pengpanich for Bunohan (Bunohan: Return to Murder, Malaysia), Malaysia’s official film submission to the 85th Academy Awards® for the Best Foreign Language Film category, and Chin Ting-Chang for Seediq Bale (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Taiwan).

Alongside Tamer Levent, Manoj Bajpayee and Choi Min-sik, the nominees in the category of Best Performance by an Actor are Lior Ashkenazi for the Oscar®-nominated feature Hearat shulayim (Footnote, Israel) and Wu Tianming, who is also an award-winning director, for Full Circle (People’s Republic of China).

For Best Performance by an Actress, in addition to Humaima Malik and Nora Aunor, the nominees are Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture (India) who was awarded the Best Actress Award at India’s National Film Awards, Darya Ekamasova for Zila bila odna baba (Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman, Russian Federation) and Cho Min-soo for Kim Ki-duk’s 2012 Venice Golden Lion-winner Pieta (Republic of Korea), which is also the official film submission to the 85th Academy Awards® for the Best Foreign Language Film category.

APSA Academy members determine both the nominees and winners in three categories, Best Children’s Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Animated Feature Film. Headed by APSA Academy President Jack Thompson, the APSA Academy is a growing body of the region’s most influential names in film including past APSA Nominees and Winners, International Jury and Nominations Council members. All APSA Nominees are automatically inducted into the APSA Academy which carries benefits including the right to apply to both the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund and the APSA Children’s Film Fund, along with the right to view and vote in the member-determined categories. The Nominees in the APSA Academy voted categories are:

Nominees for the Best Children’s Feature Film Award are:

Gattu (India) — Children’s Film Society of India

Laut Bercermin (The Mirror Never Lies, Indonesia) — Garin Nugroho (APSA Best Feature Film nomination in 2007 for Opera Jawa) and Nadine Chandrawinata

Orchim Lerega (Off White Lies, Israel) — Aurit Zamir, Yoav Roeh. Co-Produced by Janja Kralj

Australia Sheli (My Australia, Poland, Israel) — Marek Rozenbaum, Itai Tamir, Dariusz Jablonski, Violetta Kaminska, Izabela Wojcikl

Kiseki (I Wish, Japan) — Kentaro Koike, Hijiri Taguchi. Co-Produced by Odake Satomi

 

Nominees for Best Documentary Feature Film are:

Hams Caeraten Maksura/Hamesh Matzlemot Shvurot (Five Broken Cameras, Israel, Palestine, France) — Christine Camdessus, Serge Gordey, Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi

In My Mother’s Arms (Iraq, UK, Netherlands) — Isabelle Stead, Atia Jabarah Al-Daradji, Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji

Planet of Snail (Republic of Korea, Japan, Finland) — Kim Min-chul, Gary Kam. Co-Produced by Janne Niskala, Imamura Ken-ichi

Negeri di Bawah Kabut (The Land Beneath the Fog, Indonesia, Germany) — Shalahuddin Siregar

Shiton Hachok (The Law in These Parts, Israel, USA, Germany) — Liran Atzmor, Ra’anan Alexandrowicz. Co-Produced by BZ Goldberg, Laura Poitras, Martin Hagemann

 

Nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are:

Kokurikozaka Kara (From Up on Poppy Hill, Japan) — Toshio Suzuki

Happy Feet Two (Australia, USA) — Doug Mitchell, George Miller, Bill Miller. Co-Produced by Martin Wood. Dr George Miller was the recipient of the 2007 APSA FIAPF Award and is an APSA Academy member

Momo e no tegami (A Letter to Momo, Japan) — Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Shigeru Watanabe, Kazuya Hamana

Nijiiro Hotaru (Rainbow Fireflies, Japan) — Atsutoshi Umezawa

Ookamikodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children, Japan) — Yuichiro Saito, Takuya Ito, Takashi Watanabe. The producers and director Mamoru Hosoda of Wolf Children are APSA Academy members, having been nominated in this category previously for Summer Wars

 

Two additional major awards for outstanding achievement will be presented at the ceremony.

  • FIAPF Award: Each year FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations determines the winner of the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film in the Asia Pacific region
  • UNESCO Award: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization presents the UNESCO Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Diversity Through Film

 

WATCH THE CEREMONY WEBCAST LIVE on Friday November 23, 2012 at: https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/webcast

The APSA ceremony is televised to 44 countries across Asia, the Pacific and India via the ABC’s Australia Network. Within Australia, the APSA Ceremony will be broadcast on the SBS television network.

View the full list of 2012 APSA Nominees at here

Images and press kits available to download fromwww.image.net

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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.

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