The unique APSA awards celebrate the screen storytelling and rich cultural diversity of the region’s 78 countries and areas, with its star-studded red-carpet event embracing a spectacular array of traditional dress at Home of the Arts – HOTA, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh Language Region.
Guests from the world of cinema will be attending from across the Asia Pacific and beyond, with award nominees, APSA Jury Members, APSA Screen Forum participants, and representatives of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), Asia Pacific Screen Lab and more all present.
Guests attending include:
Australians – screen legend and President of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy Jack Thompson AM PhD, APSA Chair Tracey Vieira, ceremony host Lizzy Hoo, nominated filmmaker Robert Connolly (Blueback, The Dry, Paper Planes) and the creative team behind nominated Aussie animation Scarygirl, including the voice of Scarygirl Jillian Nguyen (Loveland, Barons), producers Sophie Byrne and Brisbane-based Kristen Souvlis, and director Ricard Cussó.
For the first time since 2019, all members of the APSA International Jury will attend in person. They are Jury President and acclaimed filmmaker Clara Law + partner Eddie Fong, Malaysian screen star and Golden Horse Award winner Yeo Yann Yann, Germany-based producer Anna Katchko, Japanese cinematographer Hideho Urata and Saudi Arabian film industry pioneer, producer Faisal Baltyuor.
For Best Film nominee Evil Does Not Exist from Japan, producer Satoshi Takata will further represent director/writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Director and Screenplay nominations, and Best Cinematography.
Multi-award-winning filmmaker and Best Director nominee Rima Das (Tora’s Husband), named in the 50 most influential young Indians by GQ India, will attend as nominee and member of the APSA Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury alongside fellow Jury member, Japanese documentary maker Hikaru Toda.
Cultural Diversity winner Rapture (Rimdogittanga), a rare Indian/Chinese co-production, is represented by some of the film’s multi-country producers including Xu Jianshang, Eva Gunme R Marak, Sun Li, Harsh Agarwal and Stephen Zacharias.
Prolific Singaporean producer and 2023 FIAPF Award winner Jeremy Chua and, also from Singapore, nominated writer/director Nicole Midori Woodford (Last Shadow at First Light) will also walk the red carpet.
For Best Film nominee Qas, Kazakh producer Yerkebulan Kurishbayev will attend. Another Best Film contender, Citizen Saint (Mokalake Tsmindani) from Georgia, will be represented by Best Cinematography nominee Krum Rodriguez.
Further guests include Canadian/Korean Screenplay nominee Anthony Shim (Riceboy Sleeps), Vietnamese rising star and winner of the Young Cinema Award, Phạm Thiên Ân (Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Bên Trong Vỏ Kén Vàng)), and nominated Spanish-born, Singapore-based producer Fran Borgia (Tiger Stripes).
From the People’s Republic of China, nominated writer and director Liang Ming (Carefree Days) will be present for the ceremony, as will A Song Sung Blue nominated cinematographer, and the only woman nominated in this category in 2023, Hao Jiayue, travelling with producer Jane Zheng. The fourth nominated cinematographer confirmed to attend is Kenneth Cyrus (Whispers of Fire & Water from India).
Gathering the region’s most dynamic voices to participate in the 5th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund events and the Asia Pacific Screen Lab graduation, the Asia Pacific Screen Academy also welcomes international guests John Badalu (Indonesia), Marissa Anita (Indonesia), Joseph J.U. Taylor (NZ), Akiva Tevet (Israel), Pavel Jech (Czech Republic), Amir Amenov (Kazakhstan), Yoshimasa Jimbo (Japan), Deyali Mukherjee (India), Jan-Kyle Narciso Nieva (Philippines) and Kim Jihyung (Republic of Korea); MPA Asia Pacific team Stephen Jenner, June Tan and Ed Neubronner; and local filmmakers Herman Van Eyken, Dean Gibson, Jessie Hughes, Katrina Irawati Graham, Kerrin McNeil, Diya Eid, Rae Choi, Anupam Sharma, Richard Jameson, Aven Yap, Kate Hynes, Jessica Magro, Andrew Pike and Rhianna Malezer, among many more!
The ceremony will feature a special appearance by Fijian-Australian singer-songwriter Andrea Kirwin, known for her soulful sound and gift for storytelling with her cigar box guitar and harmonica, performing together with her wife Claire Evelynn who plays the Celtic Harp.
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 (MPA) and Griffith Film School, Griffith University.
APSA acknowledges and celebrates its founding partnership with FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
More than half of the APSA nominations in 2023 are for films coming to Australian screens via local distributors, including: Evil Does Not Exist (Hi Gloss), Blueback (Roadshow Films); Past Lives (StudioCanal); Suzume (Crunchyroll/Sony); Riceboy Sleeps (Icon Film Distribution); Scarygirl, Beyond Utopia, Perfect Days, Monster and Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV (Madman); Inshallah a Boy (Palace Films); and The First Slam Dunk (Sugoi Co).
Tickets are on sale for the full Forum and the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards ceremony: https://www.asiapacificscreenawards.com
