"Aftershock," the Chinese entry in the Oscar Foreign-Language sweepstakes and the highest-grossing domestic film ever at the Chinese boxoffice, has won the top prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, which were held in Queensland, Australia on Thursday night.
The Turkish Oscar entry, "Bal" ("Honey"), was named winner of the UNESCO award, given for "outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film."
Other winners included Korean director Lee Chang-dong (Best Director, "Poetry"); actor Chen Daoming (Best Performance by an Actor, "Aftershock"); actress Yun Jung-hee (Best Performance by an Actress, "Poetry"); and Samual Maoz (Best Screenplay, "Lebanon").
In "Aftershock," director Feng Xiaogang tells the story of a devastating 1976 earthquake in Northern China. In a press release announcing the winners, APSA jury president David Puttnam called the film "as good a ‘big’ movie as any I’ve seen from Hollywood in years … It has already attracted a huge audience and it has every chance of going on to capture a bigger international audience. It is incredibly moving and, at the same time, it is really an extraordinarily restrained film ….”
Awards were chosen by an international jury. The awards, in their fourth year, are an initiative of the government of Queensland, Australia, and are open to films from the 70 countries making up the Asia-Pacific region.
The winners:
BEST FEATURE FILM
"Tangshan dadizheng" ("Aftershock")
People’s Republic of China (Mainland China / Hong Kong)
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL JURY GRAND PRIZE
Actress Shinobu Terajima for "Caterpillar"
Japan
Writer/Director Samuel Maoz for "Levanon" ("Lebanon")
Israel / France / Germany
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Lee Chang-dong for "Shi" ("Poetry")
Republic of Korea
BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTRESS
Yun Jung-hee for "Shi" ("Poetry")
Republic of Korea
BEST PERFORMANCE BY ACTOR
Chen Daoming for "Tangshan dadizheng" ("Aftershock")
People’s Republic of China (Mainland China / Hong Kong)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Samuel Maoz for "Levanon" ("Lebanon")
Israel / France / Germany
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sudhir Palsane for "Vihir" ("The Well")
India
BEST CHILDREN’S FEATURE FILM
"Digari" ("The Other")
Islamic Republic of Iran
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Piercing I"
People’s Republic of China
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
"Last Train Home"
People's Republic of China / Canada
FIAPF AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM
Christine Hakim
UNESCO AWARD
"Bal" ("Honey")
Turkey / Germany
Written and directed by Semih Kaplano?lu
HIGH COMMENDATION
High Commendation for Performance by an Actor
Tony Barry for "Home by Christmas"
High Commendation for Outstanding Technology and Special Effects
"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"
