16th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS
32 films from 17 Asia Pacific countries and areas nominated in 2023
Igniting cinema, uniting cultures
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy today announced the first winners for the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, along with the full list of nominations, including four nominations for Indian stories, ahead of the November 3 Ceremony at Home of the Arts (HOTA) on Australia’s Gold Coast.
The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani and the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports (I/C) and Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore are also seen.
Award-winning filmmaker Rima Das is nominated for APSA Best Director for her complex family drama film Tora’s Husband, marking her second APSA nomination after a Best Youth Film nomination in 2018 for Village Rockstars.
Rima Das is nominated alongside Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Evil Does Not Exist (Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai, Japan), Celine Song for Past Lives (Republic of Korea, United States of America), Darkhan Tulegenov for Brothers (Bratya, Kazakhstan), and Liang Ming for Carefree Days (Xiao yao you, People’s Republic of China).
In 2023, Rima Das is also appointed to the Awards’ second jury, APSA Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury, who determine the winners in those three categories.
At this unique event, dedicated to celebrating culture through screen stories, the winner of the 16th APSA Cultural Diversity Award, announced prior to the Ceremony, is Rapture (Rimdogittanga), directed by Dominic Megam Sangma. A rare co-production between India and China, this Garo-language story explores the politics of fear in a north-east Indian village, where the community fears kidnapping and the church prophesises a period of apocalyptic darkness.
Nominated for APSA Best Cinematography is Kenneth Cyrus for Lubdhak Chatterjee’s Whispers of Fire & Water (India). Kenneth Cyrus is up against Azamat Dulatov for Qas (Kazakhstan), Hao Jiayue for A Song Sung Blue (People’s Republic of China), Krum Rodriguez for Citizen Saint (Mokalake Tsmindani; Georgia, France, Bulgaria) and Yoshio Kitagawa for Evil Does Not Exist (Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai),
Two multi-award winning Indian stories are nominated for Best Documentary Film.
Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide (India, France), produced by Koval Bhatia and Sarvnik Kaur. The film, which follows two friends, both indigenous Koli Fishermen in Mumbai, driven to desperation by a dying sea. Their friendship begins to fracture as they take very different paths to provide for their struggling families. Against the Tide has won awards at Sundance, Sydney, Seattle, and more international film festivals.
Nisha Pahuja’s To Kill a Tiger (Canada), produced by Cornelia Principe, Nisha Pahuja and David Oppenheim, is the story of a farmer in Jharkhand, India, who takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. The film has already won major awards at film festivals across Canada and North America.
These two documentaries will compete with Beyond Utopia (United States) directed by Madeleine Gavin, Man in Black (France, United States, United Kingdom) directed by Wang Bing, Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV (United States, Republic of Korea) directed by Amanda Kim and directed by Nisha Pahuja.
In total, 32 films from 17 Asia Pacific countries and areas are nominated in the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with films from Japan receiving 11 nominations and films from the People’s Republic of China receiving 9 nominations.
Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy Tracey Vieira said: “APSA would like to congratulate the first winners and all nominees for the 16thedition of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. As the region’s film industry flourishes, it is significant that almost half of the nominations this year go to first or second time filmmakers, who are vying for the awards alongside some of the most celebrated filmmakers of our time. APSA would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the sad loss of two highly accoladed filmmakers, Pema Tseden and Ryuichi Sakamoto, APSA winners whose last works are nominated this year, and whose stories live on in their films, cherished around the world.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said: “An internationally spectacular event like no other, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards is set to shine at HOTA this November. The 16th edition of APSA to take place on the Gold Coast will revel in uniting the best of the best from the world of Asia Pacific cinema for a memorable night.”
Major Partner Screen Queensland CEO, Jacqui Feeney said: “Screen Queensland is incredibly proud to host the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards and we heartily congratulate the nominees and first winners for this year. APSA has always been an event that brings talented filmmakers from across our vast region to Queensland to celebrate their work. Of equal importance, the Asia Pacific Screen Forum offers the chance to connect, to learn from each other and to help our respective industries strengthen, grow and diversify. We look forward to welcoming all guests from across the Asia Pacific this November.”
Nominations are determined by the APSA Nominations Councils. In 2023 the APSA International Nominations Council is composed of Bina Paul (India) – Chair, Anderson Le (United States), Delphine Garde-Mroueh (France), Gulnara Abikeyeva (Kazakhstan), John Badalu (Indonesia), Kiki Fung (Hong Kong) and Yoshi Yatabe (Japan). On the 2023 APSA Youth, Animation, Documentary International Nominations Council are Faramarz K-Rahber (Australia) – Chair, Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines) and Zoe Sua Cho (New Zealand, Republic of Korea).
Running concurrently from 1 – 4 November, the 5th Asia Pacific Screen Forum is a unique programme for the screen industry, encouraging relationshipbuilding networking opportunities, as well as cultural and knowledge exchange both from within Australia and across the Asia Pacific.It features in-conversations, workshops, panel discussions and intimate roundtables with a public programme of screenings and Q&As.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Forum are presented by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy with the support of major partners the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland, the Motion Picture Association and Griffith Film School, Griffith University.
APSA acknowledges and celebrates its founding partnership with FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
The 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Red Carpet and Ceremony will take place Friday 3 November at Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Gold Coast, Australia, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh Language Region.
See below for the complete list of nominations, winners and juries.
Tickets are on sale for the full Forum and the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards ceremony: https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com
India’s rapture wins cultural diversity award Rima Das nominated for best director added by Indian newspaper Sydney on
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