NEW DELHI: Avinash Arun’s Killa and Surabhi Sharma’s Bidesia in Bambai are the only two films from India that have been nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2014 (APSA) to be held in Brisbane.
APSA to be held on 11 December will coincide with the first Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival (BAPFF).
Killa, nominated in Best Youth Feature Film category, had its world premiere at Berlin International Film Festival this year. It was also awarded at the Mumbai Film Festival recently.
The other nominations in Best Youth Feature Film category include 52 Tuesdays (Australia), Correction Class (Russian Federation), Sivas (Turkey, Germany) and Theeb (Jordan, Qatar, UAE, UK).
Bidesia in Bambai, revolving around migrants in Mumbai, has been nominated in Best Documentary Feature Film category. The other nominations in this category include 1001 Apples (Iraq), Sanda (Republic of Korea), Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Syria, France); and Wukan: the Flame of Democracy (Singapore).
However, India failed to get any nomination in the Best Film category. The nominations for the same include Winter Sleep (Turkey, France, Germany), Leviathan (Russia), I’m Not Angry (Iran), The Owners (Kazakhstan), and Memories on Stone (Iraqi Kurdistan, Germany).
The event, which is described as a ‘reimagining’ of the Brisbane International Film Festival is an extension of the programme of screenings of APSA-nominated films, started in 2013. Kiki Fung, the former head programmer of BIFF, will be one of the curators of the new festival.
The Festival will be held from 29 November to 14 December. Screen Queensland will provide A$700,000 (US $658,000) per year for the next three years to help stage the 16-day event.
In its first year, it will host approximately sixty feature films and documentaries. The festival will also include a special showcase of APSA-winning films.
In addition to the flagship screenings of films from the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, BAPFF will present a specially-curated showcase of the creative and cultural breadth of the works of filmmakers from the vast Asia Pacific region.
