Asia Pacific Screen Awards Announces 2015 Youth, Animation and Documentary Nominations and Jury

ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS ANNOUNCES 2015
YOUTH, ANIMATION AND DOCUMENTARY NOMINATIONS AND JURY

Brisbane, Australia: The Asia Pacific Screen Awards today announced the nominees in the Youth, Animation and Documentary feature film categories for the 9th annual awards, as well as the International Jury who will determine the winners in these three categories ahead of the November 26 ceremony at Brisbane's City Hall.

Films competing for Best Youth Feature Film encompass stories set in Turkey, Korea, Tibet (PRC), China and Afghanistan. The nominees are Mina Walking (Afghanistan, Canada), Set Me Free (Geo-in, Republic of Korea), A Corner of Heaven (Tiantang jiaoluo, People's Republic of China, France), Mustang (Turkey, Qatar, France, Germany), and River (Gtsngbo, People's Republic of China), a recipient of the APSA Academy Children's Film Fund, written and directed by APSA Academy member Songtaijia.

Vying for the title Best Documentary Feature Film are The Look of Silence (Indonesia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Norway) - Joshua Oppenheimer's follow up film to 2013 APSA Best Documentary winner The Act of Killing, The Chinese Mayor (People's Republic of China), Among the Believers (Pakistan, USA), Another Country (Australia), co-written by director Molly Reynolds with APSA Academy members David Gulpilil and Rolf de Heer, and A Flag Without a Country (Iraq). Written and directed by APSA Academy member Bahman Ghobadi, A Flag Without a Country will have its World Premiere at the Busan International Film Festival next week.

Films from Japan, Australia, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation are in the running for Best Animated Feature Film. Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There and APSA Academy member Keiichi Hara's Miss Hokusai will both represent Japan and compete against Russia's Snow Queen 2: The Snow King, Australia's Blinky Bill written and produced by APSA Academy members Alexs Stadermann and Barbara Stephen who produced Maya the Bee Movie, 2014 APSA Nominated Best Animated Feature Film and Korea's The Road Called Life.

The 2015 APSA Youth, Animation and Documentary International Jury will be chaired by writer/director/producer Shawkat Amin Korki (Iraqi Kurdistan), winner of the 2015 APSA UNESCO Award for Memories on Stone. Korki will be joined on the jury by Yuka Sakano (Japan), head of international relations for the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute in Tokyo, and Sam Ho (Hong Kong, PRC), a curator, researcher, teacher, writer and critic specialising in Hong Kong cinema.

Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Michael Hawkins said 'It is a great pleasure to announce the first nominees in the 9th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards, a key event for the city of Brisbane. Already the scope of talent from across Asia Pacific is on full display. I look forward to revealing the rest of the nominations in October, and welcoming them all to Brisbane, Australia's New World City, in November.'

Maxine Williamson 'Encompassing stories, culture and filmmaking talent from eleven Asia Pacific countries across the region, many of these films have garnered great acclaim far beyond the Asia Pacific region, having screened at the world's most prestigious festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Tribeca. Determining the winners is going to be a hard task for our esteemed jury.'

The nominations in the categories of Best Feature Film and five craft achievements will be announced on October 21 from the Museum of Brisbane, coinciding with an exhibition of the unique, hand crafted APSA Award vessels encompassing nine years of APSA, by Brisbane artist Joanna Bone.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards, proudly presented by Treasury Casino and Hotel, is supported by Brisbane City Council and managed by economic development board Brisbane Marketing in a unique collaboration with Paris-based UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations, recognising and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world's fastest-growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and responsible for half of the world's film output.

All nominees, International Nominations Council and APSA Jury members are inducted into the APSA Academy presided over by President, Australian screen Legend Dr Jack Thompson. The Academy boasts over 750 of the region's leading filmmakers and provides exclusive networking, development and funding opportunities available to Academy members through the APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize, the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, the APSA Academy Children's Film Fund and Academy mentoring opportunities for the next generation of Asia Pacific filmmakers through the Asia Pacific Screen Lab. The APSA's Academy partner, the European Film Academy shares the common interest of presenting pan-International Awards that promote and award excellence in cinema.

NOMINEE LIST – APSA 2015

BEST YOUTH FEATURE FILM

A Corner Of Heaven (Tiantang jiaoluo)
People's Republic of China, France
Director: Miaoyan Zhang
Producers: Miaoyan Zhang, Guillaume de Seille

Mina Walking
Afghanistan, Canada
Director: Yosef Baraki
Producers: Andrew Korogyi, Asef Baraki

Mustang
Turkey, Qatar, France, Germany
Director: Deniz Ergüven
Producer: Charles Gillibert
Co-Producers: Frank Henschke, Anja Uhland, Mine Vargi

River (Gtsngbo)
People's Republic of China
Director: Sonthar Gyal
Producers: Alexandra Sun, Sangye

Set Me Free (Geo-in)
Republic of Korea
Director: KIM Tae-yong
Producer: PYUN Kyung-woo


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Blinky Bill The Movie
Australia, India, Ireland
Director: Deane Taylor
Co-Directors: Alexs Stadermann, Noel Cleary, Alex Weight
Producers: Barbara Stephen, Jim Ballantine

Miss Hokusai (Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai)
Japan
Director: Keiichi Hara
Producers: Keiko Matsushita, Asako Nishikawa

The Road Called Life (Mae-mil-ggot, Un-su Jo-eun Nal, Geu-ri-go Bombom)
Republic of Korea
Director: AHN Jae-hun, HAN Hye-jin
Producer: LEE Sang-wook

The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King (Snezhnaya Koroleva 2: Snezhnyy Korol)
Russian Federation
Director: Aleksey Tsitsilin
Producer: Timur Bekmambetov
Produced By: Yuri Moskvin, Diana Yurinova

When Marnie Was There (Omoide no Marnie)
Japan
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Producer: Yoshiaki Nishimura


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Among The Believers
Pakistan, United States of America
Director: Hemal Trivedi, Mohammed Ali Naqvi
Producers: Jonathan Goodman Levitt, Hemal Trivedi

Another Country
Australia
Director: Molly Reynolds
Producers: Molly Reynolds, Peter Djigirr, Rolf de Heer

The Chinese Mayor (Datong)
People's Republic of China
Director: Zhou Hao
Producer: Zhao Qi

The Look Of Silence (Senyap)
Indonesia, Denmark, Norway, Finland and UK
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Co-Director: Anonymous (Indonesian)
Producer: Signe Byrge Sorensen
Co-Producer: Anonymous (Indonesian), Kaarle Aho, Torstein Grude, Bjarte Morner Tveit

A Flag Without A Country
Iraq
Producer: Bahman Ghobadi
Director: Bahman Ghobadi