Asia Pacific Screen Awards Launches Screen Academy
Media Release

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is to have its own Academy with Australian screen legend Jack Thompson AM as its Patron. The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSAs) are held in collaboration with UNESCO, FIAPF - International Federation of Film Producers Associations and CNN International. The Awards acclaim the cinematic excellence of Asia-Pacific films that best reflect their cultural origins. “One of the significant aims of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards is to promote the films and filmmakers of the Asia-Pacific region to a global market and to develop new markets for their work,” said APSA Chairman Des Power. “The Academy of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards is the next step in encouraging dialogue, collaboration and business opportunities for the region’s filmmakers.” All 65 nominees of the inaugural 2007 APSAs will now be inducted into The Academy, with a similar number from 2008 to be inducted later this year, establishing a world-class body of Asia-Pacific filmmakers. In time to come, Academy members will have a voting influence on the Awards. More than 110 films from 29 countries in the region were submitted in 2007 APSAs. “The APSAs bring the best filmmakers from the region together. The Academy will encourage these relationships to continue and it is my hope that co-productions and other initiatives between the 72 countries and areas that form the APSA network will result. Jack Thompson’s international standing in the film community lends tremendous weight to The Academy and we are honoured to have him as Patron,” Mr Power said. THE 2007 WINNERS AND NOMINEES OF THE APSAs: Best Feature Film Winner - SECRET SUNSHINE(MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea). Produced by Kim In-soo, Lee Chang-dong and Hanna Lee CARAMEL (Lebanon/France).Produced by Anne Dominique Toussaint, Hadeel Kamel and Raphael Berdugo NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-ESHAB) (Iran). Produced by Mehdi Homayounfar OPERA JAWA (Indonesia). Produced by Garin Nugroho, Keith Griffiths and Simon Field TAKVA: A MAN’S FEAROF GOD (Turkey/Germany). Produced by Sevil Demirci Cakar, Klaus Maeck, Fatih Akin Best Animated Feature Film Winner - 5 CENTIMETERS PERSECOND (BYOSOKU 5 CENTIMETERS) (Japan). Produced by Noritaka Kawaguchi THE BIG FIGHTINGBETWEEN WUKONG AND GOD ERLANG (WUKONG DA ZHAN ER LANG SHEN) (People’s Republic of China). Produced by Hansen Liang and Zhou Meiling SUMMER DAYSWITH COO (KAPPA NO COO TO NATSUYASUMI) (Japan). Produced by Yutaka Sugiyama Best Documentary Feature Film Winner - BEIRUT DIARIES:TRUTH, LIES AND VIDEOS (YAOUMIYAT BEIRUT: HAKAEK WA AKATHEEB) (Lebanon). Produced by Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun A GREAT MASTERRECAPTURED (YOU JIAN MEI LAN FANG) ( People’s Republic of China). Produced by Gao Feng THE LOST LAND(SARZAMINE GOMSHODEH) (Iran). Produced by Vahid Mousaine Simani A STORY OF PEOPLE INWAR AND PEACE (Armenia). Produced by Vardan Hovhannisyan VILLAGE PEOPLE RADIOSHOW (APA KHABAR ORANG KAMPUNG) (Malaysia). Produced by Tan Chui Mui and Amir Muhammad Best Children's Feature Film Winner - DENIAS, SINGING ONTHE CLOUD (DENIAS, SENANDUNG DI ATAS AWAN) (Indonesia). Produced by Ari Sihasale THE BICYCLE (GULONG)(Philippines). Produced by Menardo Jimenez and Socorro Fernandez LOCKSMITH(GHOFL-SAZ) (Iran). Produced by Hassan Agha-Karimi MOTHER NANNY (INANGYAYA) (Philippines). Produced by Antonio Gloria MUKHSIN (Malaysia). Producedby Puad Onah and Rosnah Kassim Achievement in Directing Winner – Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab for MAINLINE (KHOONBAZI) (Iran) Nadine Labaki for CARAMEL (Lebanon/France) Shawkat Amin Korki for CROSSING THE DUST (PARINAWA LA GHOBAR) (Iraq/Kurdistan) Peng Tao for LITTLE MOTH (XUE CHAN) (People’s Republic of China) Zhanna Issabayeva for KAROY (Kazakhstan) Best Screenplay Winner - Feroz Abbas Khan for GANDHI, MY FATHER (India) Michael James Rowland and Helen Barnes for LUCKY MILES (Australia) Kiumars Pourahmad and Habib Ahmadzadeh for NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-E SHAB) (Iran) Lee Chang-dong for SECRET SUNSHINE (MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea) Onder Cakar for TAKVA: A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD (Turkey/Germany) Achievement in Cinematography Winner - Hooman Behmanesh for THOSE THREE (AN SEH) (Iran) Wang Yu for THE GOMASTER (WU QINGYUAN) (People’s Republic of China) Sergey Trofimov for MONGOL (Russian Federation) Palitha Perera for SANKARA (Sri Lanka) Fei Zhao, Mark Ping-bin Lee and Tao Yang for THE SUN ALSO RISES (People’s Republic of China) Best Performance by an Actress Winner - Jeon Do-yeon in SECRET SUNSHINE (MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea) Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad, Siham Haddad & AsizaSemaan in CARAMEL (Lebanon/France) Hanan Turk in CUTAND PASTE (KAS WA LAZK) (Egypt) Joan Chen in THE HOME SONG STORIES (Australia) Baran Kosari in MAINLINE (KHOONBAZI) (Iran) Best Performance by an Actor Winner - Erkan Can in TAKVA: A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD (Turkey/Germany) Sasson Gabai in THEBAND’S VISIT (BIKUR HATIZMORET) (Israel) Evgeniy Antropov in HARD-HEARTED (KREMEN) (Russian Federation) Ryu Deok-hwan in LIKE A VIRGIN (CHEON HA JANG SA MADONNA) (Republic of Korea) Mehrdad Seddiqian in NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-E SHAB) (Iran) FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in film in the Asia-Pacific region awarded to: Dr George Miller UNESCO Award for Outstanding contribution to the Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Diversity through Film awarded to: The Band’s Visit (BIKUR HATIZMORET) (Israel) Eilon Ratzkovsky (Producer) Ehud Bleiberg (Producer) Eran Kolirin (Director) Jury Grand Prize was awarded to: Kiumars Pourahmad, director of NIGHT BUS (AUTO BUS-E SHAB)