Two female films, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” and Dia Kolumbegashvili’s “April,” lead nominations at the Asian Pacific Screen Awards.
The two films will compete in five categories – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Performances – which were revealed on Wednesday in the nominations announcement.
Also competing for Best Picture is “Namibia Desert” (Japan) by director Yuko Yamanaka, which is set in Tokyo and revolves around a young woman’s mental illness. Neo Sora’s future Tokyo story of risky social surveillance “Happyend” (Japan and US); And To Kill a Mongolian Horse by Jiang Xiaoxuan (Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, United States), a portrait of a Mongolian horseman-turned-artist, based on a true story.
Four of the five films nominated for Best Picture are from female directors, and in APSA’s first ranking, all of the top five contenders are first or second-place films.
In addition to Kapadia, Kulumbegashvili and Jiang, the nominees for the Best Director award are Tato Kotitishvili for “Holy Electricity,” along with veteran Cambodian-French author Rithy Banh for “Meeting with Pol Pot.”
For the first time since the acting category became a genderless best performance award, all five nominations went to women. They are: Indian Kani Kasruti for the movie “Everything We Imagine is Like Light,” Georgian Ia Sukhitashvili for the movie April, Japanese Yumi Kawai for the movie “Namibia Desert,” Kazakhstani artist Madina Akylbekova for the movie “City,” and Iranian Suhaila Golestani for the movie “The Sacred Fig Seed.” “. “.
“In 2024, two-thirds of our nominated films are first or second films, representing the cinematic excellence of the next generation of voices in the Asia-Pacific region, and the unique and compelling stories they choose to tell,” said APSA President Tracy Vieira.
The awards will be presented on November 30 at a ceremony on the Gold Coast, Queensland, following the four-day Asia Pacific Screen Forum (November 27-30). Four recipients of $25,000 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grants, with full support from the Asia Pacific Motion Picture Association, will also be announced at the ceremony.