2020 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Recipients Announced
GOLD COAST/SINGAPORE – On November 26, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) partnered with the Asia Pacific Screen Academy to announce four recipients of the 2020 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund at a slimmed down APSA ceremony on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Announcing the winners via video, Belinda Lui, President & Managing Director Asia Pacific, MPA, said that when the MPA first partnered with APSA the hope was that it would reveal fresh and exciting new stories for a global audience: “Now, in our eleventh year, all of our expectations have been greatly surpassed. Films produced under the Fund have resonated with audiences and festival judges alike, highlighting the quality and range of Asia Pacific filmmaking, and illustrating the incredible diversity of filmmakers in this part of the world.”
The recipients are:
Bianca Balbuena, from the Philippines, for Viet and Name. Developed with writer/producer Truong Minh Quy, the film is a strong and original drama about two miners caught between their love for each other and their conflicting desires for their futures, as they confront the trauma and the ghosts of Vietnam’s past and the uncertainties of the country’s present. The film’s blend of fiction with fact and the supernatural promises an innovative work of psychological complexity and artistic innovation from a filmmaker who is emerging as an extraordinary figure in Vietnamese cinema.
All Before You from Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir. Annemarie is a distinguished Palestinian filmmaker, whose 2017 film Wajib was recipient of a previous grant from the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund and won 36 international awards. All Before You tells a story of escalating demands for Palestinian independence in the 1930s when the country was under British control and the world was shifting towards war. Her treatment expresses strong storylines and a willingness to break free of conventions in exploring little known aspects of cultural and political history.
Guillaume De Seille for A Kid On The Block. A film to be written and directed by Japanese filmmaker, Kyoko Miyake. With a background in award-winning documentaries, Miyake’s first feature is an innovative work of magic realism exploring the invisible stigma of isolation and loneliness in the bustling city of Tokyo. A five-year-old boy moves with his mother into a decrepit apartment block known as the den of lonely deaths, a symbol of a social crisis in Japan. There the boy encounters both grumpy and despairing residents and humorous and tender ghosts from the past. This modern ghost story is both refreshingly original and psychologically insightful.
The Sacrifice from director Ridham Janve from India. Risham’s previous film, The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain won the Young Cinema Award in the 2019 APSAs, and his new film promises to be brilliantly visualised as it plunges into Indian mythology to tell the story of a lone horseman who survives tribal warfare to seek shelter and safety in a mountainous land of wild forests. His film departs dramatically from conventional historical epics to focus on the universal story of one man’s relationship with a harsh wilderness.
The selections were made by the 2020 jury chaired by esteemed Australian film distributor, historian and documentary filmmaker Andrew Pike OAM; returning panelist Kiki Fung (Hong Kong, PRC) renowned film curator, festival director, essayist and festival programmer; and champion of Indonesian independent cinema Meiske Taurisia, who has produced award-winning features and created a multitude of development and mentoring opportunities, and festival and distribution platforms to support and showcase Indonesian cinema.
APSA chair Tracey Vieira said, “In a year that has seen the world of cinema put on dramatic pause, it was thrilling to see the APSA 2020 award presentation and forum reinvigorate filmmakers right across our region. The creative energy, diversity and dynamism of all involved demonstrated that the future of screen stories in our region will continue to shine brighter and brighter.”
On November 20, The Motion Picture Association, Asia Pacific Screen Academy and the Embassy of Australia presented a special international edition of Film School Friday: The Rise of Screen Stories from the Asia Pacific. The event featured previous MPA APSA Academy Film Fund recipients Robert Connolly, Australia, Dechen Roder, Bhutan, OH Jung-mi, South Korea, and Maryam Ebrahimi, Sweden/Iran, and was moderated by Patrick Frater from Variety. Watch the event here.
View the 2020 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund announcement here.
View the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund trailer here.