APSA 2019 announces nominees

The 13th edition of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia has nominated five Iranian titles in six categories.

‘The Unseen’ by Behzad Nalbandi is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film and ‘Narrow Red Line’ by Farzad Khoshdast is nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Mohsen Qaraee and Mohammad Davoudi are nominated in Best Screenplay category for ‘Castle of Dreams’ by Reza Mirkarimi while ‘Break Simultaneously Twenty Bones’ (Rona, Azim’s Mother) by Jamshid Mahmoudi is nominated for the award of Cultural Diversity Award under the Patronage of UNESCO.

Navid Mohammadzadeh and Mohsen Tanabandeh are nominated in Best Performance by an Actor category for their roles in ‘Just 6.5’ (6.5 Per Meter) by Saeed Roustaee and ‘Break Simultaneously Twenty Bones’, respectively.

Chinese productions lead the nominations with 13 categories for seven films at the APSA 2019.

The full list of nominees were revealed on October 16 alongside the Asia Pacific Screen Forum, an exciting program of public and industry events from November 18 culminating with the glittering APSA ceremony on Thursday November 21.

A lineup of 37 films from 22 countries and areas of Asia Pacific achieved nominations, drawn from the 289 films in APSA competition.

The APSA represents the 70 countries and areas of Asia Pacific, covering one third of the earth, and encompassing 4.5 billion people and half the world’s film.

The APSA is an international cultural program endorsed by foundation partners UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

Full list of the nominations by category is as follows:

Best Feature Film

‘Balloon’ (Qìqiú) from China

‘Beanpole’ (Dylda) from Russia

‘The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain’ (Sona Dhwandi Bhed Te Suchha Pahad) from India

‘Parasite’ from Korea

‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Best Youth Feature Film

‘Buoyancy’ from Australia

‘The Crossing’ (Guo Chun Tian) from China

‘A First Farewell’ (Di yi ci de li bie) from China

‘The Orphanage’ (Parwareshgah) from Afghanistan, Denmark, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Qatar

‘The Red Phallus’ form Bhutan, Nepal, Germany

Best Animated Feature Film

‘Mosley’ from New Zealand, China

‘Penguin Highway’ from Japan

‘Underdog’ from Korea

‘The Unseen’ (Kaghaz pareh ha) from Iran

‘Weathering With You’ (Tenki no Ko) from Japan

Best Documentary Feature Film

‘Advocate’ from Canada, Switzerland

‘Aquarela’ from the UK, Germany, Denmark

‘The Australian Dream’ from Australia, the UK

‘Narrow Red Line’ (Khat-e Barik-e Qermez) from Iran

‘One Child Nation’ from China, the US

Achievement in Directing

Adilkhan Yerzhanov for ‘A Dark, Dark Man’ from Kazakhstan, France

Lav Diaz for ‘The Halt’ (Ang Hupa) form the Philippines

Elia Suleiman for ‘It Must Be Heaven’ from Palestine, Qatar, Turkey, Canada, France, Germany

Anocha Suwichakornpong, Ben Rivers for ‘Krabi, 2562’ from Thailand, the UK

Wang Xiaoshuai for ‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Best Screenplay

Pema Tseden for ‘Balloon’ (Qìqiú) from China

Kantemir Balagov, Alexander Terekhov for ‘Beanpole’ (Dylda) from Russia

Mohsen Qaraee, Mohammad Davoudi for ‘Castle of Dreams’ (Ghasr-e Shirin) from Iran

Tamar Shavgulidze for ‘Comets’ from Georgia

A Mei, Wang Xiaoshuai for ‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Achievement in Cinematography

Ksenia Sereda for ‘Beanpole’ (Dylda) from Russia

Yu Ninghui, Deng Xu for ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains’ (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan) from China

Saurabh Monga for ‘The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain’ (Sona Dhwandi Bhed Te Suchha Pahad) from India

Teoh Gay Hian for ‘The Science of Fictions’ (Hiruk-Pikuk Si-Alkisah) from Indonesia, Malaysia, France

Kim Hyunseok for ‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Best Performance by an Actress

Viktoria Miroshnichenko for ‘Beanpole’ (Dylda) from Russia

Samal Yeslyamova for ‘The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time’ from Kazakhstan, Japan

Ji-hu Park for ‘House of Hummingbird’ (Beol-sae) from Korea, the US

Yong Mei for ‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Max Eigenmann for ‘Verdict’ from the Philippines, France

Best Performance by an Actor

Manoj Bajpayee for ‘Bhonsle’ from India

Eran Naim for ‘Chained’ (Eynayim Sheli) from Germany

Navid Mohammadzadeh for ‘Just 6.5’ (Metri Shisho Nim) from Iran

Mohsen Tanabandeh for ‘Break Simultaneously Twenty Bones’ (Rona, Madar-e Azim) from Iran, Afghanistan

Wang Jingchun for ‘So Long, My Son’ (Di Jiu Tian Chang) from China

Cultural Diversity Award under the Patronage of UNESCO

‘Bhonsle’ from India

‘It Must Be Heaven’ from Palestine, Qatar, Turkey, Canada, France, Germany

‘Made in Bangladesh’ from Bangladesh, France, Denmark, Portugal

‘Break Simultaneously Twenty Bones’ from Iran, Afghanistan

‘The Sun above Me Never Sets’ (Min urduber kyun khahan da kiirbet) from Russia

MG/MG