The Berlin International Film Festival has wrapped up and BAPFF, – along with the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) – congratulates APSA Academy member and 2015 APSA winner Mark Lee Ping-bing for receiving the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for Director Yang Chao’s Crosscurrent (People’s Republic of China). Following on from Norte, the End of History and Locarno Golden Leopard winner From What is Before (both had their Australian premieres in BIFF and BAPFF respectively), Master Filipino helmer of long-form cinema Lav Diaz was honoured with the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize for his A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Philippines, Singapore), an eight-hour instalment continuing his exploration of the Philippines’ colonial past. Don’t miss the rare chance to see Diaz’s previous works at GOMA’s current retrospective https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/cinema/programs/lav-diaz.
The Trap (Malayalam, India) by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair, previously awarded a swag of prizes by the International Jury of the Kerala International Film Festival in December 2015 (Williamson was on the jury), went on to win the Crystal Bear for the Best Film at the Generation Kplus section. In the same section, Mete Gümürhan’s Young Wrestlers (Netherlands, Turkey) received a special mention from the international jury. The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for the Forum Section went to Mahmoud Sabbagh’s Barakah Meets Barakah (Saudi Arabia). The Audi Short Film Award was given to Taiwanese filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang’s Anchorage Prohibited. Two Israeli films snapped up the Panorama Audience Awards: Junction 48 (Israel, Germany, US) by Udi Aloni for Fiction Film, and Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? (Israel, United Kingdom) by Tomer and Barak Heymann for Documentary.
Congratulations to the filmmakers from the Asia Pacific and big congratulations to all winners!
Click here for a full list of winners.
