By Jackie Shannon
“The 10th APSA Competition has been a unique year in terms of the level of diversity amongst the films,” says Chair of the APSA International Nominations Council, Professor Hong-Joon Kim. “In watching the 135 films in the feature narrative competition, we saw diversity of everything – commercial vs arthouse films, big industry vs small independent films, different nations and countries representing the major film producing nations, and the developing screen culture from countries with young film industries. The achievement honouring directors was a particularly difficult decision this year due to the number of films by first or second time filmmakers who have remarkable cinematic voices. I am already really excited for future editions of APSA as we see the work of these first time directors reach full maturity as we saw many major auteurs in the making.”
The big guns vying for the coveted Best Feature Film Award are Mustafa Kara’s richly symbolic Northern Turkish tale, Cold Of Kalandar (Turkey, Hungary); Reza Mirkarimi’s portrait of the shifting balance of power within families, Daughter (pictured, Islamic Republic Of Iran); Zeki Demirkubuz’ slow-burn psychological drama, Ember (Turkey, Germany); Kirill Serebrennikov’s portrait of a student empowered by religious fanaticism, The Student (Russian Federation); and the epic passion project by Iranian master Majid Majidi, Muhammad: The Messenger Of God.
For a full list of nominees and all details about The 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, head to the official website.
