Gold Coast, Australia: The Asia Pacific Screen Award 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, with an acceptance speech starting in Tagalog as “it is rare that we hear Filipino in such a big event.”
Then translating into English he said “thankyou. It is a bittersweet feeling to receive this award. I am happy because this film goes to all the animators in the Philippines who have continuously made original content – we have only had 15 animated feature films.
And it is sad because one person is being sexually abused in the Philippines every hour. We should speak up for them because the perpetrators thrive in silence. We can only bring it down if we speak up for what is happening to us.”
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’sPayal 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.
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’s accepted the Cultural Diversity Award forShambhala. 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.
The 17th APSA International Jury was headed by President Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Thailand), one of Asia’s leading film directors and screenwriters, alongside Crazy Rich Asians star Chris Pang (Australia), Papua New Guinea and New Zealand producer Kerry Warkia, Korean filmmaker, educator and policymaker Park Kiyong, and Kazakh producer Yuliya Kim.
The APSA Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury, determining the winners in those three categories, was led by President of Italy’s Udine Far East Film Festival Sabrina Baracetti, joined by Japan and US-based producer Alex C Lo, Indonesian program director Gugi Gumilang and Australian actress Jillian Nguyen.
Also announced during the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony are the four recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants of US$25,000 wholly supported by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) Asia Pacific.
Following the incredible tenure of Andrew Pike OAM as Chair of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Jury, Hong Kong curator Kiki Fung headed the Jury in 2024 and was joined by Indian director Ridham Janve and Singaporean film and TV producer Tan Si En.
The recipients are producer Estelle Fialon for animated documentary Outside Kabul, producer Yulia Evina Bhara and writer/director Makbul Mubarak for Indonesian feature Watch It Burn, cinematographer Robbin Yuchao Feng and director Qiu Jiongjiong for Chinese feature Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters and producer/writer Aiko Masubuchi with writer/director Neo Sora for youth feature A Trip to Australia.
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. In 2024 the Academy will total more than 1,650 of the region’s leading filmmakers.
Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Tracey Vieira said “Tonight we celebrate cinematic stories from 24 countries and areas of Asia Pacific and I congratulate all the winners of the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. As the next generation of filmmakers comes to the fore, with a record-breaking number of emerging filmmakers, the stories on screen represent the most diverse collection of voices ever heard at APSA.
“Through the expertly crafted storytelling of the winners, we are able to explore a more expansive view of the world around us, amplifying the compelling voices, experiences and lives of those otherwise not often seen: nurses, carers, lawyers, women’s health workers and children.
“Thanks to our growing partnerships with AW Jewel, The Langham, the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland, the MPA, The Post Lounge, Top 51 World Filmmakers Club and Screen Australia, the future of APSA and the filmmaking it celebrates looks brighter than ever,” she said.
Jewel Private Residences General Manager Yutao Li said “I heartily congratulate the winners of the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Like APSA, AW Jewel prides itself on celebrating excellence and it has been an incredible experience to welcome these talented filmmakers from all over the region to come together here at Jewel Private Residence and The Langham, Gold Coast. It is an honour to embrace the cultural and geographical diversity of these cinematic stories. Uniting us all, this rich sense of place is echoed in APSA’s 2024 theme of ‘Land’, and the architecture of three Jewel Towers, representing the local land and the gemstones found within. I believe many meaningful connections have been made.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said, “Congratulations and well done to all this year’s APSA winners, presented at the Langham here on the Gold Coast. To have such a talented group of international filmmakers gathering here to sharing stories and ideas highlights the Gold Coast’s growing reputation as an international screen location.
CEO of Screen Queensland Jacqui Feeney said, “Screen Queensland is a proud supporter of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards which continue to shine as a platform for cinematic excellence and cultural exchange across our region. We congratulate this year’s winners on their achievements in filmmaking and hope that the connections created here between local and international screen practitioners during the Forum help enrich many films to follow.”
Belinda Lui, President and Managing Director Asia Pacific, Motion Picture Association, said “Our goal is to support filmmakers in the early stages of script development and to provide the MPA-APSA endorsement to attract further interest in their projects. Over the past 15 years, we have supported 60 feature films, documentaries, and animation titles. Many have achieved success at festivals and awards, with some winning Academy, Emmy, and APSA Awards. The MPA APSA Academy Film Fund is now recognized as a valued and respected source of support for Asia-Pacific filmmakers with compelling and original stories. We look forward to seeing this year’s outstanding projects come to life on screen.”
Head of Global Production for The Post Lounge Bronwyn Ketels said “It has been an honour and a delight to spend time with each of these exquisite films in crafting and delivering the APSA ceremony packages. It is also wonderful to be working at the filmmaking hub of the Gold Coast, where we will be opening The Post Lounge’s newest state-of-the-art post-production facility very soon – further expanding our capacity to partner with and deliver technical excellence to the screen industry in Australia and internationally.”
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy in strategic partnership with AW Jewel, acknowledges the support of Major Partners, Top 51 World Filmmakers Club, luxury beachfront hotel The Langham, Gold Coast, Australia’s leading lifestyle, opportunity and filmmaking destination theCity of Gold Coast, the state’s premier screen production and culture agency Screen Queensland, internationally acclaimed post house The Post Lounge and Motion Picture Association (MPA) Asia Pacific – the leading global advocacy organisation protecting and promoting the voices of Asia Pacific screenmakers.
