Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” and Abinash Bikram Shah’s “Elephants in the Fog” received the most nominations for the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with three nods each. The awards will be presented on October 30 in Australia.
“All of a Sudden” (France, Japan, Germany, Belgium) and “Elephants in the Fog” (Nepal, Germany, Brazil, France, Norway) are both nominated for best film, best director, and best performance. In the best director category, Hamaguchi and Shah will compete against Sompot Chidgasornpongse (“9 Temples to Heaven”), Aung Phyoe (“Fruit Gathering”), and Jennifer Peedom (“Tenzing”).
Also receiving two nominations each for best film are Shahrbanoo Sadat’s “No Good Men” (Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Afghanistan), Levan Koguashvili’s “Guria” (Georgia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Türkiye, U.K., Norway, Saudi Arabia), and Chidgasornpongse’s “9 Temples to Heaven” (Thailand, Singapore, France, Norway, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Qatar). The awards also recognize best screenplay, best cinematography, best youth film, best animated film, and best documentary film, with the best performance category remaining ungendered.
According to the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, 69% of the directors nominated are presenting their first or second feature film. This trend is particularly noticeable in the best youth film and best animated film categories, where all nominees are first-time directors and all contenders for best animated film are from first- or second-time filmmakers. Virginie Efira and Okamoto Tao are jointly nominated for best performance for “All of a Sudden,” while Ervin Han and Raúl García, the directing duo behind “The Violinist,” are nominated for best animated film.
Tracey Vieira, chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, stated: “When you look across this year’s nominations, what really stands out is the level of collaboration behind these films. We are seeing filmmakers and creative teams from countries across the Asia Pacific working together, and in many cases partnering with countries well beyond the region, to bring these stories to the screen.” Three projects funded by the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, “9 Temples to Heaven” (funded in 2021), Sara Ishaq’s “The Station” (Yemen, Jordan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar) (funded in 2019), and Anthony Chen’s “We Are All Strangers” (Singapore) (funded in 2023), also earned nominations. Submissions for the fund remain open through September 25.
Mandy Walker ASC ACS, the APSA international jury president, said: “Watching and celebrating movies from other cultures only enriches our own experiences and views of the world. I have the honor to be heading the International Jury this year to recognize the achievements of these talented filmmakers.”
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