New Zealand films Boy and Home by Christmas have received nominations in the 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the region’s highest accolade in film.
Australian films Bran Nue Dae and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole have also been nominated.
Australian actor Tony Barry has been nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor category for his role in Home by Christmas, directed by Gaylene Preston.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole has been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, alongside films from three major Japanese studios and an independent Chinese production.
Both Boy and Bran Nue Dae have been nominated for Best Children’s Feature Film, which is open to films suitable for a young audience up to the age of 16 or are films that reveal the world through the perspective of a child character.
Winners in the fourth annual APSAs will be determined by an International Jury headed by Academy Award-winning producer Lord David Puttnam and announced at a Ceremony on Australia’s Gold Coast on December 2.
These awards, an initiative of the Queensland Government, Australia in unique collaboration with UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations – acclaim films from 70 countries and areas; one third of the earth; and half the world’s film output.
Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins. A total of 239 films were entered in the competition by Official Submitting Organisations from the region and by invitation from the APSA Nominations Council and APSA Chairman.
Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), from the People’s Republic of China, has received a record six nominations, unanimously praised by the APSA Nominations Council for its ability to deftly balance a large scale epic story with the intimate drama of one family dealing with the aftermath of the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake that took the lives of 240,000 people.
Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), the highest grossing domestic film of all time in China, has been nominated for Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress.
The second most nominated film in the 2010 APSAs is Shi (Poetry), Republic of Korea, written and directed by Lee Chang-dong, which has received four nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Best Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actress for Yun Junghee.
Lee Chang-dong accepted the Award for Best Feature Film in the inaugural 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Secret Sunshine, which also received the Best Performance by an Actress Award for Jeon Do-yeon.
Chang-dong’s brother Lee Joon-dong is the producer of Shi (Poetry), and he also produced, along with Chang-dong, 2009 APSA Winner A Brand New Life. Shi (Poetry), was in Official Competition at the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival where Lee Chang-dong won the Best Screenplay award for the film.
Mengjia (Monga), the stylish gangster film and box office success from Taiwan, directed by Doze Niu Chen-zer and produced by Lee Lieh and Doze Niu Chen-zer, has received three nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography.
Bal (Honey), from Turkey, directed and produced by Semih Kaplanoğlu, has also received three nominations: Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing and Achievement in Cinematography. Winner of the Golden Bear Award at the 2010 Berlinale, Bal (Honey) is the third film in Kaplanoğlu’s Yusuf Trilogy.
The final nominee in the Best Feature Film category is Paju from the Republic of Korea, also nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for Seo Woo. Paju is directed by one of Korea’s most notable female filmmakers, Park Chan-Ok, and produced by Kim Ju-kyung and Lee Eun.
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