The red carpet was out and filled with glamour
This year the screen awards had some truly memorable and masterful films and performances amongst the nominations (see article about nominees here)
The Jury was headed by President of the APSA International Jury, Lord Puttnam – the British native who was also President in 2010.
Also on the Jury were:
– Chairman of the Busan International Film Festival Kim Dong-Ho.
– Multi-award winner Nansun Shi – hailing from Hong Kong and former jury member in 2011.
– Palme d’Or and Academy Award-winning Jan Chapman – the Australian producer who was also a jury member in 2012.
– Master filmmaker Shyam Benegal – the pride of India and jury member in 2013.
Lord Puttnam said of the process: “Over the last two weeks the APSA International Jury has viewed 24 films that between them have lasted almost 50 hours and it’s been a remarkable privilege to find yourself looking into customs, societies, attitudes and practices that you are not necessarily familiar with, and all of us on the Jury found that incredibly rewarding.”
“There were two significant things I came away with: number one was how often the issue of family occurred, the importance of family and the role of family, is an underlying theme that popped up time and time again. The other that I found really encouraging was the quite extraordinary quality of the male performances. I have never seen that number of absolutely outstanding male performances – ever. Anywhere.”
APSA International Jury member Jan Chapman (Australia) said “I found a fascination with the variety of films and felt a gratitude that we can see such a range of styles of films from such a range of countries. It is really quite astounding and such an insight into other worlds.”
THE 10th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS WINNERS
BEST FEATURE FILM
Cold of Kalandar (Kalandar Soğuğu)
Turkey, Hungary
Produced by Nermin Aytekin
Co-produced by Ivan Angelusz, János Rózsa
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cevahir Şahin, Kürşat Üresin for Cold of Kalandar (Kalandar Soğuğu)
YOUNG CINEMA AWARD presented by NETPAC and Griffith Film School
Mustafa Kara for Cold of Kalandar (Kalandar Soğuğu) Turkey, Hungary
Mustafa Kara’s beautiful symbolic tale is set in the high mountains of Northern Turkey farmer Mehmet dreams of finding gold and training the family bull to win fights in the spring. Poverty and the harshness of everyday life in this environment set against the changing seasons and highlighting human spirit. This film was also nominated for the APSA Cultural Diversity Award.
BEST YOUTH FEATURE FILM
The World of Us (Woorideul)
Republic of Korea
Produced by Lee Chang-dong, Kim Soon-mo
A ten year old girl, usually left out at school, makes friends with another girl who is new to town over the summer holidays. They enjoy a wonderful friendship until they return to school when the new girl joins in with bullying her friend in order to fit in with the cool kids. As she realises her mistake in betraying her best friend it is unclear if it’s too late for the girls to be the great friends they have been again.
Jury Chair Chris Fujiwara said “We were very struck by the film because it is so rare to see films about a group of girls of primary school age, the film depicted the power relationships between these girls, their longing to be accepted and their desire to have social prestige. All of these things were really beautifully portrayed in this film and it was a very, very moving film about the longing for friendship and acceptance.”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Seoul Station (Seoul-yeok)
Republic of Korea
Produced by Lee Dong-ha, Suh Young-joo, Yeon Sang-ho
An undead cannibal apocalypse is gripping the city of Seoul. A runaway teenager is caught up in the unfolding drama as the government declares the whole area a no go zone. This film manages to blend zombie horror, entertainment and acute social criticism brilliantly.
Jury Chair Chris Fujiwara said:“We were struck most of all by the film’s social and political critique which is directed at the authoritarian function of the police and the authority structure of the patriarchal family. We thought the film was quite successful in making this critique through the zombie narrative as a vehicle, and the animation was very skilfully done,”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Starless Dreams (Royahaye Dame Sobh)
Islamic Republic of Iran Produced by Mehrdad Oskouei
The young girls of a juvenile correctional and rehabilitation centre in Tehran shows the mistreatment and disadvantage that led the girls to imprisonment, as well as the way their relationships with each other hold such importance. A voice for the voiceless, and the first film to be made inside an Iranian girl’s prison.
Jury Chair Chris Fujiwara said: “Starless Dreams is an absolutely devastating film emotionally and an extraordinary piece of work by the director who was able to win the trust of these girls. It is an affirmation of the power of cinema in the sense that it is cinema that allows these girls to achieve some kind of transcendence of their situation, to achieve some kind of honest expression of who they are and their worth as human beings. A very, very moving film,”
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Feng Xiaogang for I Am Not Madame Bovary (Wo Bu Shi Pan Jinlian)
People’s Republic of China
BEST SCREENPLAY
Ryusuke Hamaguchi , Tadashi Nohara , Tomoyuki Takahashi for Happy Hour
Japan
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Hasmine Killip in Ordinary People (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Philippines
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Manoj Bajpayee in Aligarh
India
SPECIAL MENTION FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Psycho Raman (Raman Raghav 2.0)
India
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD, UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF UNESCO
Hussein Hassan for The Dark Wind (Reşeba)
Iraq, Qatar, Germany
JURY GRAND PRIZE
Youn Yuh-jung in The Bacchus Lady (Jug-yeo-ju-neun yeo-ja)
Republic of Korea
JURY GRAND PRIZE
Mark Lee Ping-bing for Crosscurrent (Chang Jiang Tu)
SPECIAL MENTION: JURY GRAND PRIZE
Sunny Pawar in Lion
Australia