APRIL TAKES BEST FILM AT 17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

Wins for April, All We Imagine as Light, The Missing, Boong, No Other Land

Ia Sukhitashvili accepting the Best Performance APSA for her performance in April. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April has had a stunning double win at the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA). The gripping cinematic drama took home the APSA for Best Film, with the APSA for Best Performance going to Ia Sukhitashvili for her phenomenal portrayal of a Georgian Ob Gyn providing women’s health services.Ia Sukhitashvili was at the prestigious APSA ceremony in Australia on Saturday night to accept both awards. The event was held at The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region. The international film event, held in strategic partnership with Jewel Private Residences, honours the cinematic excellence of 78 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific, and films that best reflect their cultural origins and the diversity of the vast region. April is the second feature for Dea Kulumbegashvili, who was a recipient of an MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grant for early development of the film, which is produced by David Zerat, Ilan Amouyal, Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Archil Gelovani, Gabriele Moratti and Alexandra Rossi. In a particularly strong year for women’s stories, the International Jury awarded its Jury Grand Prize to All We Imagine as Light, the highly acclaimed second feature from India’s Payal Kapadia. The Prize, selected at the discretion of the jury, was awarded to this story of two working-class nurses amidst the nocturnal landscape of Mumbai. Best Youth Film also goes to a female director from India, Lakshmipriya Devi, and producers Alan McAlex, Vikesh Bhutani, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shujaat Saudagar, for Boong, the heartwarming story of a young boy in remote Manipur who goes on an adventure to reunite his family. The APSA for Best Animated Film has been won by The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines). The film, a groundbreaking adult sci-fi animation, is a personal tale from director Carl Joseph Papa who accepted the award on the night. Best Documentary Film at the 17th APSA has been won by No Other Land (Palestine, Norway), directed as a group by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham, and giving their perspective on the violence and destruction surrounding them. The film is currently in theatrical release in Australia and the UK. Georgian director Tato Kotetishvili was awarded the APSA for Best Director for his debut feature, the dark comedy Holy Electricity (Georgia, Netherlands), which sees cousins selling neon crucifixes door to door in Tbilisi, in a cinematic ode to the city and its people. From Türkiye, the tense legal thriller Hesitation Wound (Tereddüt Çizgisi, Türkiye, Spain, Romania, France) has seen writer/director Selman Nacar win the APSA for Best Screenplay for his second feature, the story of a fiercely intelligent female defence attorney facing mounting professional, personal and moral challenges. Winning Best Cinematography is French cinematographer Michaël Capron (Blue Is the Warmest Colour) for Mongrel, the contemplative Taiwanese drama that puts the unseen life of an undocumented Thai carer in the spotlight. New Zealand’s prolific producer, actor and APSA winner Cliff Curtis is the recipient of the prestigious FIAPF Award, determined by APSA founding partner FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations, and awarded for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region. FIAPF President Luis Alberto Scalella said, “Cliff Curtis’ impressive career has been built on a strong commitment to screen storytelling that truly speaks to all audiences, both within the New Zealand screen industry, and internationally. His support for emerging Indigenous filmmakers from New Zealand has enabled the production of many compelling films, and he is a producer known for bold and demanding choices in the stories he chooses to tell.” FIAPF Award winner Cliff Curtis said, “A good meal feeds the body for that day a great story sustains the hearts and minds of generations past, present and future. My heart is filled with gratitude for the privilege of working alongside the artists, collaborators and mentors whose works have made this award possible. Thank you to FIAPF and to APSA for recognising Asia Pacific voices and bringing us together to share our stories of humanity, courage and purpose.” The three previously announced winners were all in attendance in Australia to accept their awards: Neo Sora received APSA’s Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC for Happyend and Nepali director Min Bahadur Bham accepted the Cultural Diversity Award for Shambhala. Georgia’s Data Chachua accepted his APSA for Best New Performer for Panopticon, a film which also stars APSA Best Performance winner Ia Sukhitashvili. All three of these awards were presented by the soon-to-launch Top 51 World Filmmakers Club, of which the three winners become members. A dynamic hub for creativity, encouraging innovative collaborations and cultural exchange among global filmmakers, the Top 51 World Filmmakers Club will be located on the 51st level of The Langham, Gold Coast, and will launch in early 2025. Unprecedentedly, the winners of the 17th edition of APSA have been for films almost exclusively by first- or second-time filmmakers. Amongst some of the winners at the 17th APSA are renowned filmmakers mentoring this next generation, Luca Guadagnino for April and Hou Hsiao-hsien for Mongrel, creating continuity, connection and growth for the region’s cinema. This is one of the aims of APSA – for its established and growing Academy, already comprising many of region’s leading auteurs and emerging talent, to help celebrate and amplify the talented creative voices of a new generation as they share their stories.