The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting and preserving the different cultures through the influential medium of cinema, it honours and promotes the films, actors, directors, and cultures of the Asia Pacific area to a worldwide audience.

Event history

APSA was established in 2007 and works with FIAPF, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. An international jury selects the winners, and films are evaluated based on their cinematic quality and how well they reflect their cultural backgrounds. More than 70 nations and regions in the Asia Pacific region are represented by APSA, which introduces their films to new international audiences. It is a sister organisation to the European Film Academy and Premios PLATINO del Cine Iberoamericano.

Nominees are inducted into the Asia Pacific Screen Academy. Australian screen legend, Jack Thompson AM, is the President of the academy.

Members of the International Jury in the past include Tran Anh Hung, Annemarie Jacir, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Garin Nugroho, Diana El Jieroudi, Eric Khoo, Mike Downey, Rubaiyat Hossain, Alexander Rodnyansky, Nia Dinata, Deepak Rauniyar, Jill Bilcock, He Saifei, Adolfo Alix Jr, Asghar Farhadi, Anthony Chen, Hiam Abbass, Lu Yue, Maciej Stuhr, Rajit Kapur, Shyam Benegal, Malini Fonseka, Nansun Shi, David Puttnam, Sergey Dvortsevoy, Salman Aristo, Gina Kim, Samuel Maoz, Kaori Momoi, Tahmineh Milani, Jan Chapman, Sasson Gabai, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Aparna Sen, Bruce Beresford, Huang Jianxin, Shabana Azmi and Jafar Panahi.

Film categories and awards

The following types of film are eligible for submission of movies:

As of 2024[update] following accomplishments are recognised with the following awards:

In addition, exceptional success is recognised with special awards:

  • FIAPF Award, for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region
  • Cultural Diversity Award for the outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film
  • Young Cinema Award in partnership with NETPAC and Griffith Film School, recognises the abundant emerging talent of the Asia Pacific.

Major award winners

YearBest FilmBest Animated FilmBest Documentary FilmBest Youth FilmBest DirectorBest ScreenplayBest CinematographerBest Performance by an ActressBest Performance by an ActorBest Performance
2007 1stSouth Korea Secret SunshineJapan 5 Centimeters per SecondLebanon Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and VideosIndonesia Denias, Singing on the CouldIran Rakhshan Bani-E'temad, Mohsen Abdolvahab for MainlineIndia Feroz Abbas Khan for Gandhi, My FatherIran Hooman Behmanesh for Those ThreeSouth Korea Jeon Do-yeon for Secret SunshineTurkey Erkan Can for Takva: A Man's Fear of God
2008 2ndKazakhstan TulpanIsrael France Germany Waltz with BashirSouth Korea 63 Years OnAustralia The Black BallonTurkey Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three MonkeysIsrael Eran Riklis and Suha Arraf for Lemon TreeSouth Korea Lee Mogae for The Good, The Bad, The WeirdIsrael Hiam Abbass for Lemon TreeIran Reza Naji for The Song of Sparrows
2009 3rdAustralia Samson & DelilahAustralia Mary and MaxIsrael Denmark United States DefamationSouth Korea A Brand New LifeChina Lu Chuan for City of Life and DeathIran Asghar Farhadi for About EllyChina Cao Yu for City of Life and DeathSouth Korea Kim Hye-ja for MotherJapan Masahiro Motoki for Departures
2010 4thChina AftershockChina Piercing IChina Canada Last Train HomeIran The OtherSouth Korea Lee Chang-dong for PoetryIsrael Samuel Maoz for LebanonIndia Sudheer Palsane for The WellSouth Korea Yoon Jeong-hee for PoetryChina Chen Daoming for Aftershock
2011 5thIran A SeparationSouth Korea Leafie, A Hen Into The WildSweden Japan United States I Was Worth 50 SheepAzerbaijan ButaTurkey Nuri Bilge Ceylan Once Upon a Time in AnatoliaRussia Denis Osokin for Silent SoulsTurkey Gökhan Tiryaki for Once Upon A Time in AnatoliaRussia Nadezhda Markina for ElenaChina Wang Baoqiang for Mr. Tree
2012 6thTurkey Beyond the HillJapan A Letter to MomoIraq United Kingdom Netherlands In My Mother's ArmsIndonesia The Mirror Never LiesPhilippinesBrillante Mendoza for Thy WombTurkey Reis Çelik for Night of SilenceTurkey Touraj Aslani for Rhino SeasonPhilippines Nora Aunor for Thy WombSouth Korea Choi Min-sik for Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
2013 7thPalestine OmarRussia Ku! Kin-dza-dzaDenmark Norway United Kingdom The Act of KillingSouth Korea Juvenile OffenderSingapore Anthony Chen for Ilo IloIndia Ritesh Batra for The LunchboxChina Lu Yue for Back to 1942China Zhang Ziyi for The GrandmasterSouth Korea Lee Byung-hun for Masquerade
2014 8thRussia LeviathanJapan The Tale of Princess KaguyaIraq 1001 ApplesTurkey Germany SivasTurkey Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Winter SleepIran Nima Javidi MelbourneChina Hong Kong Dong Jinsong for Black Coal, Thin IceChina Lü Zhong for Red AmnesiaNew Zealand Cliff Curtis for The Dark Horse
2015 9thThailand Cemetery of SplendourJapan Miss HokusaiChina The Chinese MayorChina RiverRussia Aleksei Alekseivich German for Under Electric CloudsTurkey Senem Tüzen for MotherlandTaiwanMark Lee Ping-bing for The AssassinJapan Kirin Kiki for Sweet BeanSouth Korea Jung Jae-young for Right Now, Wrong Then
2016 10thTurkey Cold of KalandarSouth Korea Yeon Sang-ho for Seoul StationIran Mehrdad Oskouei for Starless DreamsSouth Korea Yoon Ga-eun The World of UsChina Feng Xiaogang for I Am Not Madame BovaryJapan Ryusuke Hamaguchi Tadashi Nohara & Tomoyuki Takahashi for Happy HourTurkey Hungary Cevahir Şahin, Kürşat Üresin for Cold of KalandarPhilippines Hasmine Killip for Ordinary PeopleIndia Manoj Bajpayee for Aligarh
2017 11thAustralia Sweet CountryCanada Ann Marie Fleming for Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie MingSyria Denmark Germany Last Men in AleppoIndonesia Australia Qatar Netherlands Kamila Andini for The Seen and UnseenRussia Andrey Zvyagintsev for LovelessIndia Amit Masurkar& Mayank Tewari for NewtonRussia Rustam Khamdamovfor The Bottomless BagGeorgia (country) Nato Murvanidze for Scary MotherIndia Rajkummar Rao for Newton
2018 12thJapan ShopliftersRussia Leo Gabriadze for RezoAustralia Paul Damien Williams, Shannon Swan for GurrumulTurkey The PigeonLebanon Nadine Labaki for CapharnaümIsrael Dan Kleinman and Sameh Zoabi for Tel Aviv on FireSingapore France Netherlands Hideho Urata for A Land ImaginedChina Zhao Tao for Ash Is Purest WhiteIndia Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Manto
2019 13thSouth Korea ParasiteJapan Makoto Shinkai for Weathering with YouIsrael Switzerland Canada Rachel Leah Jones & Philippe Bellaiche forAdvocateAustralia Rodd Rathjen for BuoyancyKazakhstan France Adilkhan Yerzhanov for A Dark, Dark ManRussia Kantemir Balagov & Aleksandr Terekhov for BeanpoleRussia Ksenia SEREDA for BeanpolePhilippines Maxene Eigenmann for VerdictIndia Manoj Bajpayee for Bhonsle
2021 14thJapan Drive My CarRussia Andrei Khrzhanovsky for The Nose or the Conspiracy of MavericksSweden Hogir Hirori for SabayaSouth Korea Yoon Dan-bi for Moving OnIran France Asghar Farhadi for A HeroJapan Ryusuke Hamaguchi& Takamasa Oe for Drive My CarVietnam Singapore France Thailand GermanyNguyễn Vinh Phúc for TasteBangladesh Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana Maryam NoorGeorgia (country) Merab Ninidze for House Arrest
2022 15thIndonesia Before, Now & ThenArmenia Germany Lithuania Aurora's SunriseIndia United States United Kingdom All That BreathesJordan Palestine Saudi Arabia Sweden FarhaCambodia France Davy ChouReturn to SeoulIndonesia Makbul MubarakAutobiographyGermany Niklas Lindschau – The Stranger(category retired)(category retired)South Korea Lee Jung-eunHommage as Ji-wan
2023 16thJapan Germany Perfect DaysFrance Germany Luxembourg BelgiumThe SirenIndia Against the TideKazakhstan Bauryna SaluSouth Korea United States Celine Song for Past LivesCanada South Korea Anthony Shim for Riceboy SleepsKazakhstan Azamat Dulatov for QasPalestine Mouna Hawa for Inshallah a Boy
2024 17thGeorgia (country) Italy France AprilPhilippines The MissingPalestine Norway No Other LandIndia BoongGeorgia (country) Netherlands Tato Kotetishvili for Holy ElectricityTurkey Spain Romania France Selman Nacar for Hesitation WoundTaiwan Singapore France Michaël Capron for MongrelGeorgia (country) Italy France Ia Sukhitashvili for April
2025 18thIran Luxembourg France It Was Just an AccidentThe SquareFrance Palestine Put Your Soul on Your Hand and WalkAmoebaJafar PanahiChie Hayakawa

Other awards

On 29 November 2018, the 12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards presented the Best Original Score Asia Pacific Screen Award for the first time. The head of the jury for the first-ever award was Ryuichi Sakamoto. This new category is intended to "honour more excellent films and the musicians who contribute so profoundly to the emotions of the movie," according to APSA Chairman Michael Hawkins.

Winners and nominees

2018

YearNomineesEnglish titleOriginal title
2018Iceland Iceland Hildur Guðnadóttir, Jóhann JóhannssonMary Magdalene
Greece Eléni KaraïndrouBomb, A Love StoryBomb, Yek Asheghaneh
United Kingdom Harry Gregson-WilliamsBreath
United Arab Emirates United States Omar FadelYomeddine
Philippines Ryan CayabyabThe Portrait

Footnotes

External links