Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” leads a diverse slate of nominees for the first-ever Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) Aruna Vasudev Award for Best Asia Pacific Film 2024, celebrating the region’s emerging cinematic voices.
The winner will be unveiled at the 31st FICA (Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema) in Vesoul, France, on Feb. 18.
The nominees, culled from over 600 features screened in 2024, represent a cross-section of contemporary Asian and Pacific cinema. Alongside Kapadia’s India-European co-production are Mahdi Fleifel’s “To A Land Unknown” (Palestine-Denmark), Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “April” (Georgia-France-Italy), Lan Pham Ngoc’s “Cu Li Never Cries” (Vietnam-Philippines-France-Singapore-Norway) and “My Favorite Cake” from Iranian directors Behtash Sanaie Ha and Maryam Moghadam.
The award, featuring an artwork by Iranian artist Keivan Beiranvand, honors NETPAC founder Aruna Vasudev’s legacy in championing Asian cinema.
Vasudev was a key figure in promoting Asian cinema on the global stage. In 1988, she launched Cinemaya, the first pan-Asian film quarterly, which ran for two decades. The publication became a vital resource for information on Asian films and filmmakers. In 1989, Vasudev established NETPAC, an organization dedicated to the promotion of Asian cinema. NETPAC introduced awards for Asian films at international festivals and organized the Cinefan festival in New Delhi.
She served on juries at numerous international film festivals, including Cannes, Locarno and Karlovy Vary. She authored several books on Asian cinema, including “The New Indian Cinema” and “Being & Becoming: The Cinemas of Asia.” Her work saw her appointed Cavaliere della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana in 2004 and honored with France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2019. She died in 2024.
NETPAC, which expanded to include Pacific cinema in 2015, currently counts nearly 180 industry professionals among its membership and presents awards at more than 25 international film festivals, including Venice, Rotterdam and Toronto. A companion award for Best Book on Asia Pacific Cinema will also be presented at the ceremony.
The organization, celebrating 35 years of promoting regional cinema, continues its mission of spotlighting independent and non-mainstream Asian Pacific films that might otherwise struggle for international recognition due to limited resources.
