The 2008 Winners of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, were announced November 11, on the Gold Coast Queensland, Australia.
Thirty two films from seventeen countries were finalists in the Awards with more than 700 industry creatives from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States attended. Australian Director Bruce Beresford (nominated for an Academy Award),lead the International judging panel.
The APSA list of Winners are:
Best Feature Film award – TULPAN (Kazakhstan/Russian Federation/ Switzerland/Poland/Germany).
Best Animated Feature Film – VALS IM BASHIR (WALTZ WITH BASHIR, Israel/France/Germany).
Best Documentary Feature Film – GGEUTNAJI ANHMEUN JEON JAENG (63 YEARS ON, Republic of Korea).
Best Children’s Feature Film – THE BLACK BALLOON (Australia).
Achievement in Directing – Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan for UC MAYMUN (THREE MONKEYS, Turkey/France/Italy).
Best Screenplay – Suha Arraf for ETZ HALIMON (LEMON TREE, Israel/France/Germany).
Achievement in Cinematography – Korean Lee Mogae for JOHEUNNOM NABBEUNNOM ISANGHANNOM (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, Republic of Korea).
Best Performance by an Actress Award – Hiam Abbass, the Israeli actress for her performance in ETZ HALIMON (LEMON TREE, Israel/France/Germany).
Best Performance by an Actor Award – Reza Naji in Majid Majidi’s AVAZE GONJESHK-HA (THE SONG OF SPARROWS, Islamic Republic of Iran).
Outstanding Achievement In Film In the Asia-Pacific region (FIAPF) Award
- Yash Chopra, (founder of Yashraj Films)
UNESCO Award for Outstanding Contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film – TINAR, the Iranian documentary feature film (Islamic Republic of Iran).
This year the jury decided to present two awards in the category of Jury Grand Prize which went to – HONGSE KANGBAIYIN (THE RED AWN, People’s Republic of China); and to – THE PRISONER (India).
Chairman of the APSA said: “ The quality and depth of story-telling amazed not only our jury this year but is certain to attract more audience at the global level. It is a tribute to the filmmakers that they now have a globally recognised award and the broadcast reach of CNN International to promote their work.”
The CNN APSA Viewers Choice Award for Best Asia-Pacific Film of all Time, went to HIMALA, Ishmael Bernal’s 1982 work from The Philippines. Voted for by thousands of film fans around the world, at
http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/screening.room/
