“Sweet Country” leads APSA nominations

Australian film “Sweet Country” is the leading contender at this year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the premier film award of the region. The race tension drama directed by Warwick Thornton received nominations in three categories, including best film.

However, there was no happy news for Bangladesh as Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's India-Bangladesh joint production “Doob” (“No Bed of Roses”) failed to make the final nominations list, despite being invited from the APSA Headquarters as an official selection. The Irrfan Khan-starrer separation drama is set for release in Bangladesh on October 27, and also released its only song “Ahare Jibon” (by band Chirkutt) on Thursday night as part of its promotional campaign. 

Two other films received three nods: Hirokazu Kore-eda's “The Third Murder” (Japan) and Sashishi Deda's “Scary Mother” (Georgia, Estonia) but neither is in contention as best feature. 

Nominations for the 11th edition of the awards spanned 41 films from 21 countries and include a first-time nod towards a film from Bhutan. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on November 23, in Brisbane, Australia, reports Variety. Apart from Best Feature, other categories include Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Performance by an Actor, Best Performance by an Actress, Best Youth Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Animation Feature Film, along with a APSA Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO. 

Competing for best feature are: Vivien Qu's “Angels Wear White” (China, France), Samuel Maoz's “Foxtrot” (Israel, Germany, France, Switzerland), Sergei Loznitsa's “A Gentle Creature” (France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands), Mohammad Rasoulof's “A Man of Integrity” (Iran) and Thornton's “Sweet Country”

The APSAs noted that 26% of films in competition this year were directed by women and 51% were directed by first or second time filmmakers.

Winners in the main awards sections will be determined by the APSA International Jury, headed in 2017 by Australian film editor Jill Bilcock. Winners in the three other categories -- best youth feature film, best documentary feature film and best animation feature film -- are judged by a second jury involving Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia) and Melanie Coombs (Australia), and British producer Steve Abbott.