Asia-Pacific Screen Awards: Omar wins best picture

Published on December 13, 2013


Palestinian movie Omar has taken top honours at the first Asia-Pacific Screen Awards held in Brisbane, with Australia’s three nominees missing out.

The film, about love and betrayal in the occupied territories, was the first to be fully funded by Palestinians, and is now in submission for the 2014 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Producer David Gerson, who travelled for 60 hours from his Berlin base to accept the APSA for Best Feature Film at City Hall, said Omar director Hany Abu Assad had made Omar for a wide audience.

“Of course he made it for people at home, but he made it to tell a story that resonated with other people,” he said.
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“We knew that there was a lot riding on it, we knew that people were responding to it, and we hope people continue to see the film.”

The City Hall ceremony drew 1200 people, with 39 films from 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific region nominated for awards.

President of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy Jack Thompson said the APSAs were on the cusp of being recognised by international film-makers as on the same level of awards like the Golden Globes, and festivals such as Cannes and Toronto.

He said the awards would be held in Brisbane for at least another four years, and possibly longer.

“I would hope they would [remain] ... because this is our origin, and it continues to reflect on Australia and Brisbane as the centre of focus,” he said.

“But hey, if it becomes a competition as to who gets to be the city each year to host the APSAs, that would be a wonderful thing as well.”

Thompson presented the award for Best Performance by an Actress, won by China’s Zhang Ziyi for martial arts epic The Grandmaster.

Korea’s Lee Byung-hun beat Australian Aaron Pederson for the Best Actor gong for Masquerade, the fourth-highest grossing Korean film of all time.

Neither were at City Hall to receive their coloured vessels (awarded instead of statuettes) but sent video messages of thanks.

Brisbane media personality Sofie Formica was joined by Chinese TV presenter Chen Lei to host the event, which was broadcast live online.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said hosting the APSAs helped Brisbane boost its own movie industry and create relationships to help find its place in the Asia Pacific region.

“We’ve been emerging as a cultural centre since Expo 88 … each year we do more, and this is another exciting step forward,” he said.

“Making Brisbane a permanent home for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards is really about us saying how important film is, how important the industry is, but also how important our relationships are across the Asia Pacific.”

2013 APSA Winners

Best Feature Film - Omar (Palestine)

Best Director - Anthony Chen for Ilo, Ilo (Singapore)

Best Actor - Lee Byung-hun for Masquerade (Korea)

Best Actress - Zhang Ziyi for The Grandmaster (Hong Kong/China)

Achievement in Cinematography - Lu Yue for Back to 1942 (China)

Best Screenplay - The Lunchbox (India)

Best Children’s Feature Film - Juvenile Offender (Korea)

Best Animated Feature Film - Kool Kin-Dza-Dza (Russian Federation)

Best Documentary Feature Film - The Act of Killing (Denmark, Norway, UK)

Grand Jury prizes - Television (Bangladesh) and The Lunchbox (India).

UNESCO Award - The Painting Pool (Iran)

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/asiapacific-screen-awards-omar-wins-best-picture-20131213-2zap3.html
 

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