Georgian drama film “April” took double honors on Saturday at the annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards, winning the best film prize and the best performance prize for Ia Sukhitashvili.
Directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili, the film portrays the determination of an obstetrics and gynaecology provider in the face of accusations about the death of a newborn child. The film premiered at the Venice and Toronto festivals in September, earning a special jury prize in Venice and the best film prize in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera competition.
Sukhitashvili was present at the APSA ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, to accept both awards.
Fellow Georgian filmmaker, Tato Kotetishvili was awarded the APSA for best director for his debut feature, dark comedy “Holy Electricity,” which sees cousins selling neon crucifixes door to door in Tbilisi.
Women’s stories and films from India were also major themes among the awards winners.
Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” which made a sensational debut in Cannes in May, was Saturday awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the APSAs. The prize, selected at the discretion of the jury, was awarded to this story of two working-class nurses in Mumbai.
The APSA prize for Best Youth Film also went to a female director from India, Lakshmipriya Devi, for “Boong.” Produced by Alan McAlex, Vikesh Bhutani, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shujaat Saudagar, the film is a heartwarming story of a young boy from remote Manipur who goes on an adventure to reunite his family.
The APSA for Best Animated Film was won by “The Missing” (aka “Iti Mapukpukaw”), a rare animation film in the adult sci-fi genre from The Philippines. “No Other Land” (Palestine, Norway), directed as a group by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham, and giving their perspective on the violence and destruction surrounding them, was named the documentary best film winner.
Veteran New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis (“Boy,” “The Meg,” “Whale Rider,” “Colombiana”) was named recipient of the FIAPF Award for his commitment to producing indigenous stories. At the Gold Coast event Curtis spoke about the Maori understanding of people existing between Mother Earth and Father Sky acknowledged the many cultures gathered for APSA. (APSA adopts a UNESCO definition of Asia that stretches from Palestine to New Zealand.)
Three previously announced winners were all in attendance at the ceremony to accept their awards: Neo Sora received APSA’s Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC for “Happyend”; Nepali director Min Bahadur Bham accepted the Cultural Diversity Award for “Shambhala”; Georgia’s Data Chachua accepted his APSA for best new performer for “Panopticon,” a film which also stars Sukhitashvili.
The APSA main jury was this year headed by Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, alongside “Crazy Rich Asians” star Chris Pang (Australia), Papua New Guinea and New Zealand producer Kerry Warkia, Korean filmmaker, educator and policymaker Park Kiyong and Kazakh producer Yuliya Kim. The APSA Youth, Animation, Documentary International Jury was led by Sabrina Baracetti of the Udine Far East Film Festival, joined by Japan and U.S.-based producer Alex C Lo, Indonesian program director Gugi Gumilang and Australian actress Jillian Nguyen.
The ceremony also included the announcement of the four recipients of the $25,000 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants, supported by the Motion Picture Association. They included currently in post-production Chinese feature “Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters,” and “Watch It Burn,” by “Autobiography” director Makbul Mubarak.
17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards – WINNERS
Best Film
“April,” Dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia, Italy, France)Jury Grand Prize “All We Imagine as Light,” Dir. Payal Kapadia (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Best Youth Film“Boong” Dir. Lakshmipriya Devi (India)Best Animated Film“The Missing” (aka “Iti Mapukpukaw”) Dir. Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines)Best Documentary Film“No Other Land” Dirs. Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham (Palestine, Norway)Best DirectorTato Kotetishvili for “Holy Electricity” (Georgia, Netherlands)Best ScreenplaySelman Nacar for “Hesitation Wound” (aka “Tereddüt Çizgisi”) (Türkiye, Spain, Romania, France)Best Cinematography Michaël Capron for “Mongrel” (Taiwan, Singapore, France)Best PerformanceIa Sukhitashvili for “April” (Georgia, Italy, France)Best New Performer Data Chachua for “Panopticon” (Georgia, France, Italy, Romania)Cultural Diversity Award “Shambhala” Dir. Min Bahadur Bham (Nepal, France, Norway, Hong Kong, Türkiye, Taiwan, U.S., Qatar)Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC Neo Sora for “Happyend” (Japan, U.S.) FIAPF Award Cliff Curtis (New Zealand)
2024 MPA APSA Film Fund Recipients (four)“Outside Kabul,” animated documentary, prod. Estelle Fialon (France)“Watch it Burn,” fiction feature, prod. Yulia Evina Bhara (Indonesia) and prod., dir. Makbul Mubarak.“Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters,” fiction feature, cinematographer. Robbin Yuchao Feng (China), dir. Qiu Jiongjiong.“A Trip to Australia,” fiction feature, prod. Aiko Masubuchi (Japan, U.S.), prod., scr., dir. Neo Sora.
