AUSTRALIA’S MEMOIR OF A SNAIL, MAGIC BEACH NOMINATED AT 17th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

The Asia Pacific Screen Academy has announced the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) with Australian films Magic Beach (pictured, below) and Memoir of a Snail among 31 films from 23 Asia Pacific countries and areas represented in the 2024 nominations roster. 

Leading the field for the 17th annual event, with nominations in five categories, are two powerful, cinematic stories by and about women. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg), described as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April (Georgia, Italy, France), the story of an ob-gyn, are both nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performance. 

SEE THE FULL LIST OF 2024 APSA NOMINATED FILMS HERE

“Congratulations to all the nominees in the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, who we welcome into the esteemed group of the region’s filmmakers, The Asia Pacific Screen Academy,” said Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Tracey Vieira. “In 2024, two thirds of our nominated films are debut or second films, representing the cinematic excellence of the next generation of Asia Pacific voices, and the unique and compelling stories they are choosing to tell.” 

Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail (Australia; pictured, right) has received a nomination for Best Animated Film, one of five outstanding works that represent a broad range of animation styles from classic hand-drawn to rotoscoping, motion capture and claymation. Elliot’s previous feature Mary and Max won the APSA in the same category in 2008 at the 2nd annual event.

Memoir of a Snail is up against Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu (Japan, France), Hur Bum-wook’s Pig That Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Republic of Korea), Naoko Yamada’s The Colors Within (Kimi no Iro, Japan) and Carl Joseph Papa’s The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw, Philippines).

APSA has, since its inception, celebrated films made for and about young people, and as a collection they provide insight into the unique and the universal issues facing young people across the region. Magic Beach (Australia), the live action and animated omnibus adaptation of Alison Lester’s classic children’s book, is nominated for Best Youth Film and was previously a recipient of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in its early script development stages.

Magic Beach will be competing alongside Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong (India), Qu Youjia’s She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (Kai Shi De Qiang, People’s Republic of China; pictured, right), Antoinette Jadaone’s Sunshine (Philippines), and Rachel House’s The Mountain (New Zealand). 

Three further feature film awards will be announced and in 2024 are supported by the Top 51 World Filmmakers Club as a Major Partner. These categories are Best New Performer, in recognition of an exceptional debut or sophomore performance in a feature film; The Cultural Diversity Award, for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film; and, the Young Cinema Award (in partnership with NETPAC) is awarded to an impressive first or second time feature director in recognition of the abundant emerging talent of the Asia Pacific.

The FIAPF AWARD is determined by APSA founding partner FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region. Also to be announced during the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony are the four recipients of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants of US$25,000 wholly supported by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) Asia Pacific. 

APSA’s theme in 2024, Land, holds profound significance across the Asia Pacific, encompassing traditional, cultural, and historical meanings, and serves as a powerful lens through which we can explore the relationship between identity, sovereignty, and the stories we tell through film.

In 2024, an unprecedented number of nominated films are set for Australian theatrical release across the peak summer box office period, allowing local audiences the opportunity to connect with the best cinema of the region. These include APSA frontrunner All We Imagine as Light (Rialto, 30 Jan), Magic Beach (Madman, Jan 16), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Sharmill, 23 Jan), No Other Land (Hi Gloss, 21 Nov), Ghost Cat Anzu (Kismet, Dec 5; pictured, right), The Colors Within (Kismet), Hesitation Wound (Arcadia), the recently released The Mountain (Madman) and Memoir of a Snail, which opens this week (Madman). 

The 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Saturday 30 November and the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Forum, 27-30 November, will be held at The Langham, Gold Coast, on the traditional land of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region.

PREVIEW: 2022 JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL

Presented by The Japan Foundation, the 26th edition of the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) will begin its 2022 rollout across Australia, launching in Canberra (5–20 November) before moving to Perth (21–27 November), Brisbane (11–27 November), Melbourne (30 November–4 December) and finishing up in Sydney (7–14 December).

The national season represents a return to the theatrical experience for both the festival organisers and patrons, after two years of committed online programming in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Since 1997, the Sydney-based Japan Foundation has presented contemporary and retrospective Japanese film screenings; in 2022, it will screen in conjunction with cultural partners NFSA, QAGOMA and ACMI via Palace Cinemas.    

Opening the festival this year across all cities is the historical drama Dreaming of the Meridian Arc (大河への道; pictured, right), a rewriting of Japanese history by director Kenji Nakanishi. Set in both present-day Japan and the Edo period, this comedy uncovers the true story behind the man who completed the first ever map of Japan. 

The Japanese sector’s grasp of intense and complex drama can be seen in such programming highlights as Keisuke Yoshida’s Intolerance (空白), an intricate portrayal of the behaviour and psychology of people caught in extreme situations; the moving exploration of the lies and secrets of a girl with a complex family upbringing in Tetsu Maeda’s And So The Baton Is Passed (そして、バトンは渡された; pictured, top); Keisuke Yoshida’s human drama, Blue (ブルー), an examination of the inner lives of boxers; and, Takahisa Zeze’s poignant murder mystery/drama, In the Wake (護られなかった者たちへ), about the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

The festival offers ‘quirky edginess’ with Hūgo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins (ベイビーわるきゅーれ), a Tarantino-esque romp about teen killers learning to cohabitate and adjust to the facade of ‘normal life’; Kōhei Yoshino’s ANIME SUPREMACY! (ハケンアニメ !), a charming slice-of-GenZ-life drama about a production outfits quest to create the next great anime; and, Masaki Tachibana’s coming-of-age animation Blue Thermal (ブルーサーマル), a refreshing college-life story about friends' growing devotion to competitive gliding. 

The line-up turns dark with Kazuya Shiraishi’s psychological thriller Lesson in Murder (死刑にいたる病; pictured, right), the story of a young man upended by a serial killer’s claim. And foodies will not want to miss Toshimichi Saitō’s mouth-watering documentary, The Pursuit of Perfection, following four elite chefs in Tokyo who work tirelessly to perfect their craft. 

A particular highlight for international cinephiles will be the JFF Special Series, a free sidebar of 35mm film screenings celebrating the master filmmaker Mikio Naruse. The four films featured in this program shine a light on Naruse’s poignant observation of the growing tension surrounding familial and societal conformities in a changing, post–war Japan - a theme that pervades the director’s remarkably crafted body of work. The rarely-seen collection includes Sound of the Mountain (山の音; 1954); Floating Clouds (浮雲; 1955), the film considered by many his masterpiece; When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (女が階段を上る時; 1960); and, Yearning (乱れる; 1964). 

Sydney audiences will also be treated to a special post-film presentation at The Chauvel Cinema on Wednesday 14 December, where Dr Mats Karlsson, Senior Lecturer at The University of Sydney, will discuss Floating Clouds in the context of Naruse’s filmography, which included a mammoth 90 films spanning 1930 to 1967.

All ticketing and session details are available at the 2022 Japanese Film Festival OFFICIAL WEBSITE. 

JUSTIN KURZEL’S PORT ARTHUR FILM IN CANNES COMPETITION

Australian director Justin Kurzel will vie against some of international cinema’s biggest names when his film Nitram screens in Competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Chronicling the events leading up to the Port Arthur shooting massacre in 1996, Nitram will be the first Australian film since Sleeping Beauty in 2011 to figure in the prestigious competitive strand in over a decade. Shot under quarantine conditions in late 2020 with American actor Caleb Landry-Jones in the lead role (who goes unnamed in the film), Kurzel’s latest fielded howls of protest when it was broken the story of Australia’s worst mass killer was being produced. 

Kurzel (Snowtown, 2011; True History of The Kelly gang, 2019) will be amongst such filmmakers as Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch), Leox Carax (Annette, the Festival’s Opening Night choice), Paul Verhoeven (Benedetta; pictured, right), Sean Penn (Flag Day), Sean Baker (Red Rocket), Asghar Farhadi (A Hero), and Palme d’Or winners Jacques Audiard (Les Olympiades) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria) 

In announcing the 2021 line-up artistic director Thierry Fremaux noted the record 24 films in competition and an unprecedented number of female directors, among them Hungarian helmer Ildikó Enyedi (The Story of My Wife), French director Julia Ducournau (Titane) and festival favourite Mia Hansen-Løve (Bergman Island).

While Closing Night honours remain a mystery and potential Hollywood blockbusters premiering on The Croisette unnamed, the full roster announced is:  

COMPETITION:
Annette, Leos Carax
Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti
Everything Went Fine, François Ozon
A Hero, Asghar Farhadi
Titane, Julia Ducournau
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson
Red Rocket, Sean Baker
Petrov’s Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov
France, Bruno Dumont
Nitram, Justin Kurzel
Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Paris 13th District, Jacques Audiard
The Restless, Joachim Lafosse
La Fracture, Catherine Corsini
Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch
The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier
Compartment No.6, Juho Kuosmanen
Ahed’s Knee, Nadav Lapid
Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Løve
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven
The Story Of My Wife, Ildikó Enyedi
Flag Day, Sean Penn

OUT OF COMPETITION:
Aline, The Voice Of Love, Valérie Lemercier
Stillwater, Tom Mccarthy
The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes
Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim
De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot
Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez

MIDNIGHT SCREENING:
Bloody Oranges, Jean-Christophe Meurisse

CANNES PREMIERE:
Hold Me Tight, Mathieu Amalric
Cow, Andrea Arnold
Love Songs For Tough Guys, Samuel Benchetrit
Deception, Arnaud Desplechin
Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg
In Front Of Your Face, Hong Sang-Soo
Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson
Evolution, Kornél Mundruczo
Val, Ting Poo, Leo Scott
JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, Oliver Stone

SPECIAL SCREENINGS
H6, Yé Yé
Black Notebooks, Shlomi Elkabetz
Mariner Of The Mountains, Karim Aïnouz
Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Babi Yar, Context, Sergei Loznitsa
The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

UN CERTAIN REGARD
The Innocents, Eskil Vogt
After Yang, Kogonada
Lamb, Valdimar Jóhannsson
Noche De Fuego, Tatiana Huezo
Bonne Mère, Hafsia Herzi
Blue Bayou, Justin Chon
Moneyboys, C.B Yi
Freda, Gessica Généus
Un Monde, Laura Wandel
Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu
House Arrest, Alexey German Jr.
Let There Be Morning, Eran Kolirin
Unclenching The Fists, Kira Kovalenko
Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise
La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai
Gaey Wa’r, Na Jiazuo

A WORLD OF SCI-FI HONOURED AT SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL

Two stunning works of artistry and fantasy from young filmmakers from the Middle East have taken top honours at the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival award ceremony, held overnight at the Actors Centre Australia in the city’s inner-west.

The Ron Cobb Best Feature Film prize was awarded to SCALES, Shahad Ameen’s monochromatic masterpiece of patriarchal defiance hailing from the U.A.E.; the film was also nominated for Best Director and Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film. The Best Short Film honour went to the night’s only dual honouree, THE FABRICATED, from young Iranian director Ali Katmiri. The alternate-reality thriller also earned Best Lead Actress in a Short Film for Sonya Esmaeeli, whose acceptance speech (provided only moments before the event) acknowledged fellow students of acting the world over.

The festival’s goal of bringing a vast international science fiction program roster to Sydney audiences was reinforced, with movies from Italy, Spain, France, Japan and Australia all factoring in the night’s list of winners. Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film went to Denise Fantucci, star of Italian director Emanuela Rossi’s DARKNESS, for her role as the defiant eldest child of a father determined to keep three sisters away from a world he assures them is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Spanish actor Javier Botet, whose remarkable physique and gentle performance was a perfect fit for the alien visitor in co-directors Juan Gonzalez and Nando Martinez’s QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS, won Best Lead Actor in a Feature.

Directorial honours went to Yuichi Kondo for A.I-themed romancer RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER, already bearing the laurels of several festival wins throughout the year; and, to Baptiste Rouvere, whose ANONYMOUS ANIMALS is building momentum as the most buzzed-about horror/fantasy offering on the global circuit.

The biggest cheers of the evening were, of course, saved for the Australian winners. Genre legend Vernon Wells, an iconic film presence since he terrified audiences 39 years ago as the mohawked ‘Wez’ in George Miller’s Mad Max 2, earned the Best Actor in a Short Film gong for STARSPAWN: OVERTURE, the alien abduction action/thriller that also earned nominations for Best Short Film and Best Director (Short) for Travis Bain.

The all-important Audience Award was bestowed upon the inaugural festival’s Opening Night pic, Mark Toia’s killer-robot action epic, MONSTERS OF MAN, which makes its global online platform debut on December 8. 

The full list of winners and nominees are:    

BEST LEAD ACTRESS in a Feature Film
WINNER: DENISE TANTUCCI (‘Stella’ in DARKNESS; pictured, below)
YUHO YAMASHITA (‘Stereo’ in FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE)
ZARLIA CHISHOLM (‘Maisey’ in STRANGEVILLE)
MIYUU TESHIMA (‘Arika’ in HIDE & SNIFF)
BRUNA CUSI (‘Berta’ in QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS)
BASSIMA HAJJAR (‘Hayat’ in SCALES)

BEST LEAD ACTRESS in a Short Film
WINNER: SONYA ESMAEELI (‘Copy 1’ in THE FABRICATED)
AMELIA CONWAY (‘Alyssa’ in ALYSSA)
EMILY WROLSON (‘Z’ in WAKE ME UP)
SHEILA IVY TRAISTER (‘Sheila’ in REWIND)
NURIA DEULOFEU (‘Niky’ in POLVOTRON 500)
LISE RISOM OLSEN (‘Q’ in Q: GHOSTLY REMOTE EFFECT)

BEST LEAD ACTOR in a Feature Film
WINNER: JAVIER BOTET (‘Javi’ in QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS)
FINT (‘Mono’ in FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE)
DAVID COOK (’Bruce’ in STRANGEVILLE)
VITO LEO (‘Myles’ in STRANGEVILLE)
KOUTA FUDAUCHI (‘Kouka’ in HIDE & SNIFF)
RINAL MUKHAMETOV (‘Victor’/’The Architect’ in COMA)

BEST LEAD ACTOR in a Short Film
WINNER: VERNON WELLS (‘Randolph’ in STARSPAWN: OVERTURE; pictured, below)
DAVID DOUKHAN (‘Isaac’ in TRANSFERT)
AYMEN BEN HAMIDA (‘Slim’ in MAGNUM OPUS)
LEVI BURGESS (‘Brodie’ in MILK)
DAVID GYASI (‘Elijah’ in LIVING THINGS)
KRIS MAVERICKO (‘Kurt’ in AFTER_LIFE)

BEST DIRECTOR Short Film
WINNER: YUICHI KONDO (RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER, Japan)
MERIAM KHEMMASSI (MAGNUM OPUS, Tunisia)
TRAVIS BAIN (STARSPAWN: OVERTURE, Australia)
ALI KATMIRI (THE FABRICATED, Iran)
RICHARD DE CARVALHO (A BLASTER IN THE RIGHT HANDS, Australia)
TRISH HARNETIAUX (YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND, U.S.A)

BEST SHORT FILM
WINNER: THE FABRICATED (Iran)
SPACE PROBE PASSENGER (Poland)
RYOKO’S QUBIT SUMMER (Japan)
AFTER_LIFE (Singapore)
STARSPAWN: OVERTURE (Australia)
THE DAR(k)WIN PROJECT (France)

BEST DIRECTOR Feature Film
WINNER: BAPTISTE ROUVERE (ANONYMOUS ANIMALS, France)
FINT (FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE, Germany)
EMANUELA ROSSI (DARKNESS, Italy)
KOUSUKE HISHINUMA (HIDE & SNIFF, Japan)
JUAN GONZALEZ & NANDO MARTINEZ (THE QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS, Spain)
SHAHAD AMEEN (SCALES, UAE)

BEST FEATURE FILM
WINNER: SCALES (UAE)
MONSTERS OF MAN (Australia)
DARKNESS (Italy)
FONOTUNE: AN ELECTRIC FAIRYTALE (Germany)
ANONYMOUS ANIMALS (France)
STRANGEVILLE (Australia)
HIDE & SNIFF (Japan)
THE QUEEN OF THE LIZARDS (Spain)
COMA (Russia)
TUNE INTO THE FUTURE (Luxembourg)

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER:
MONSTERS OF MAN (Australia, Dir: Mark Toia)

PARASITE, BEANPOLE LEAD HONOUREES AT 2019 ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS

Adding further momentum towards anticipated Oscar glory, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite has claimed Best Feature Film at the 13^th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) last night in Brisbane, Australia. The breakout international success story of 2019 turned its single nomination into the night’s biggest prize, the first win for Korea in the Best Feature Film category since Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine took out the inaugural prize in 2007.

Producer Jang Young-hwan accepted the award (pictured, below), a unique handcrafted glass vessel by Brisbane artist Joanna Bone, on the night. The honour also comes as the Asia Pacific Screen Forum, running concurrently with the awards festivities, focuses on 100 years of Korean cinema.

Stories encompassing thirteen countries and areas within the vast Asia Pacific region were awarded, with the majority of the winners also being their country’s Official Submission for the Academy Awards® in the Best International Feature Film Category. Thirty-seven films from 22 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific region achieved nominations for the prestigious awards, drawn from the 289 films in APSA competition.

The Australian sector was honoured with the Best Youth Feature Film, the prize taken out by Rodd Rathjen’s Buoyancy, produced by Causeway Films’ Sam Jennings and Kristina Ceyton. The Khmer and Thai language film, shot in Cambodia, is the story of 14 year-old Cambodian Chakra who leaves home in search of a better life only to be enslaved on a fishing trawler. Co-directors Rachel Leah Jones and Phillipe Bellaiche’s Advocate, an Israeli production that recounts the story of Jewish Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel, beat the only other local nominee, Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream, for the Best Documentary trophy.

Director Kantemir Balagov’s Russian wartime drama Beanpole was the only film to take home two APSA awards - Best Cinematography honouree Ksenia Sereda (pictured, right), the first woman to win the APSA in this category, and Balagov and Alexander Terekhov for Best Screenplay. Best Director winner Adilkhan Yerzhanov, helmer of the Kazakh noir feature A Dark, Dark Man, was the focus of the Director’s Chair session at the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Forum and accepted the award on the night. It is his second award following the APSA NETPAC Development Prize win in 2013 (now the Young Cinema Award) for Constructors.

Acting trophies will be travelling to new homes in The Philippines and India. Max Eigenmann won Best Actress for her role as a woman fighting to free her life of domestic violence in Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s Verdict, for acclaimed producer Brilliante Mendoza. Celebrated Indian actor Manoj Baypayee earned Best Actor honours for his role in Devashish Makhija’s Bhonsle; Bajpayee’s win, his second APSA gong, marks a staggering four years in a row that an Indian performer has won in this category.

Beating out highly favoured fellow nominees The Unseen and Mosley, Weathering With You (Japan) was named Best Animated Feature. The film is directed by Makoto Shinkai, who also took home the inaugural APSA in this category in 2007 for 5 Centimetres Per Second.

The APSA International Jury awarded a Jury Grand Prize to Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, who wrote, directed, produced and starred in APSA-nominated film It Must Be Heaven. Suleiman was also awarded the APSA Jury Grand Prize in 2009 for The Time That Remains. The prestigious Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO was awarded to Rona, Azim’s Mother (Islamic Republic of Iran; Afghanistan) by brothers Jamshid and Navid Mahmoudi. This award represents APSA’s founding partnership with UNESCO, and the shared goals of the two organisations in the protection and preservation of cultural identity.

The winner of the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film goes to Katriel Schory, one of the most respected figures of Israeli cinema. Schory produced more than 150 titles through is production company BelFilms Ltd and served for twenty years as Executive Director of Israel’s main film funding body, where he produced and promoted 300 films. He is credited with revitalising Israel’s film industry through an emphasis on diversity and international co-production treaties, opening the country’s cinema up to the global audiences.

The APSA Young Cinema Award has been won by emerging Indian filmmaker Ridham Janve whose feature The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain (pictured, above) was also nominated for Best Feature Film and Achievement in Cinematography.

Also announced during the APSA Ceremony were the four recipients of the 10^th MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Created to support the development of new feature film projects by APSA Academy members, the fund awards four development grants of US$25,000 annually. In 2019, the four recipients are Delphine Garde-Mroueh & Nadia Eliewat (UAE/France) for The Station; Rachel Leah Jones (Israel/United States of America) for Reality Check; Catherine Fitzgerald (New Zealand) for Sweet Lips; and, Dechen Roder (Bhutan) for I, The Song.