INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS IN ATTENDANCE | Q&A Screenings Now On Sale
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy today announced a curated program of special public screenings, a Gold Coast exclusive, will take place throughout the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Forum from November 9-13 at HOTA, Home of the Arts.
The internationally acclaimed line-up of seven APSA nominated films are now on sale, showcasing the diversity and vibrancy of storytelling produced in the Asia Pacific region. With five filmmaker Q&A events and three Queensland premieres (Hommage, Delikado and Children of the Mist), the program features screenings of APSA Best Film nominee and Cannes Film Festival 2022 favourite Return To Seoul (Retour à Séoul) (France, Belgium, Germany, Cambodia, Qatar), also nominated for Best Director for Davy Chou; winner of the 2022 APSA Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO, Muru, New Zealand’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards; heartfelt family drama and the first Pakistani film ever selected for Cannes Joyland which won the Cannes “Queer Palm” prize for best LGBT film, winner of the APSA Young Cinema Award; mystery thriller Hommage (Omaju, Republic Of Korea) APSA nominated for Director Shin Su-won and Best Performance; Pilbara-set coming-of-age drama Sweet As (Australia) nominated for Best Youth Film; and two APSA-nominated documentaries – environmental thriller Delikado (Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong) also shortlisted for a Walkley Award; and documentary Children of the Mist (Vietnam), the incredible story of a young Hmong girl.
MURU
Inspired by actual events and the current #1 smash-hit film at the NZ Box Office, Muru is the story of a local Police Sergeant ‘Taffy’ Tāwharau (Cliff Curtis), who must choose between his badge and his people, when the Government launches an armed raid through his remote Ruatoki community, on a school day. This gripping action drama is not a re-creation, but a response to the 2007 Tūhoe raids which saw legendary artist, activist and leader Tame Iti wrongfully arrested under suspicion of domestic terrorism. He appears as himself in Muru (the Māori concept for reconciliation and forgiveness).
Muru screening: An exclusive Q&A with star, artist and activist Tāme Iti follows the film.
Winner: APSA Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO
Screening: 7:15pm Wednesday 9 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
JOYLAND
The first Pakistani film to screen at Cannes, Joyland is a heartfelt family drama and romance that reveals the ways social taboos can restrict our true selves. As the happily patriarchal Rana family craves for the birth of a baby boy, the youngest of the Rana men secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and finds himself falling for a fiercely ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.
Joyland screening:
APSA Winner: Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC and GFS
Screening: 7:15pm Thursday 10 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
DELIKADO
Environmental thriller Delikado is set in Palawan – an idyllic tropical island and one of the tourist hotspots in Asia. The expertly crafted and engaging film follows Bobby, Tata and Nieves, three magnetic leaders, as they risk their lives in David versus Goliath-style struggles trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier”.
Delikado screening: An exclusive filmmaker Q&A follows the screening with Director Karl Malakunas
APSA Nominated: Best Documentary Film
Screening: 10:00am Friday 11 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
HOMMAGE
The film industry in South Korea has become a powerhouse when it comes to delivering fresh and unpredictable films. Directed by Shin Su-won and starring Parasite’s Lee Jeong-eun, the story tells of a filmmaker searching for missing footage from one of the first feature films directed by a South Korean woman in the mystery thriller Hommage (Omaju).
Hommage (Omaju) screening: An exclusive filmmaker Q&A follows the screening with Director and Writer Shin Su-won.
APSA Nominated: Best Director (Shin Su-won) and Best Performance (Lee Jeong-eun)
Screening: 10:00am Saturday 12 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
SWEET AS
Sweet As is the first Western Australian feature film to be written and directed by an Indigenous female filmmaker, Jub Clerc. Nominated for the 2022 Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Youth Film, the film is based on Jub’s life growing up in the remote and stunning Pilbara region and has been described as The Breakfast Club meets the outback!
Sweet As screening: An exclusive filmmaker Q&A with Producer Liz Kearney follows the screening.
APSA Nominated: Best Youth Film
Screening: 11:00am Sunday 13 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
CHILDREN OF THE MIST
Screen International (Nikki Baughn) describes Children of the Mist as a “compelling and eye opening drama”. From first-time feature director Hà Lệ Diễm, the film is set in the misty mountains of North Vietnam, where a teenage Hmong girl walks the thin line between childhood and becoming an adult. Di, a 13-year-old Hmong girl, is about to face the destiny of many teenage girls of her ethnic group: bride kidnapping.
Children of the Mist screening: An exclusive filmmaker Q&A with Director Hà Lệ Diễm following the screening.
APSA Nominated: Best Documentary Film
Screening: 3:00pm Sunday 13 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
RETURN TO SEOUL
On an impulse to reconnect with her origins, twenty-five year old Freddie, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions. With a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Return To Seoul (Retour à Séoul) world premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in May.
Return to Seoul (Retour à Séoul) screening:
APSA Nominated: Best Film and Best Director (Davy Chou)
Screening: 5:15pm Sunday 13 November at HOTA. Tickets available here.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards and Forum are presented by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy with the support of major partners the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland, Motion Picture Association, UNESCO, FIAPF, and Griffith Film School, Griffith University.
The Asia Pacific Screen Forum is also supported by Major Government Partner Screen Australia, ATOM QLD, Screenrights, Essential Screen Skills and QT Gold Coast.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Alicia Brescianini +61 400 225 603 / [email protected]
Cathy Gallagher +61 416 227 282 / [email protected]
Georgina Stegman +61 415 622 213 / [email protected]
Website: https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asiapacificscreenawards
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ABOUT THE ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS & ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN ACADEMY
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy proudly presents the region’s highest accolade in film, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Established in 2007, APSA ignites and honours the cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 78 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and responsible for half of the world’s film output.
All APSA nominees, Nominations Councils and Jury members are inducted into the prestigious APSA Academy presided over by Australian screen legend Jack Thompson AM PhD. The Academy boasts over 1,400 of the region’s leading filmmakers and provides exclusive networking, development and funding opportunities available to Academy members through the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, and Academy mentoring opportunities for the next generation of Asia Pacific filmmakers through the Asia Pacific Screen Lab.