2015 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund awards script development grants to Academy members from India, Israel, New Zealand, and Palestine

The Asia Pacific Screen Academy and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) announced the recipients of the sixth round of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund during the 9^th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony in Brisbane. 

In making the announcement, President and Managing Director of the Motion Picture Association – Asia Pacific, Mike Ellis said “The Motion Picture Association highly values its close association with the APSAs and is proud to support some of the region’s leading filmmakers through this development fund.  The concept of the fund was designed to assist projects in the script development phase and is granted to filmmakers at all stages of their careers, from new and emerging talent to some of world’s most awarded and renown.

Chair of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, Andrew Pike said “This scheme has helped to create some incredible films since its inception, and this year’s submissions were of an excellent standard. I thank my fellow panelists – Korean film critic Youn Sung-Eun and New Zealand independent filmmaker Costa Botes for their rigorous approach to determining the 4 outstanding projects to be grant recipients from the 86 project submissions in 2015.”

Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and its Academy Michael Hawkins said “It was always an aim of the APSA Academy to provide opportunities exclusively to Academy members, to develop the talent of the region with important script development support. With the announcement of this year’s successful projects, the Fund has supported 24 feature film projects over six years. I thank the Motion Picture Association for their ongoing partnership with the Academy in this vital funding stream.”’

The 2015 recipients are:

 Bandit by screenwriter and director Ami Drozd (Israel) which the Panelists called “A potent, multi-layered father-son saga set in the director’s Polish homeland in the aftermath of World War two.”

Drozd was nominated for Best Youth Feature Film, 2012 for My Australia (Australia Sheli) and in that same year was a panel member for the APSA Academy Children’s Film Fund.

The Fox Boy by director and producer Cliff Curtis (New Zealand). The Panelists described The Fox Boy as “inspired by an archival still photograph of a Maori boy dressed in Western clothes, an intimate epic which explores the contradictions and tensions of New Zealand colonial history. “

Curtis was awarded Best Performance by an Actor in 2014 for The Dark Horse, and was previously nominated Best Youth Feature Film, 2010 for Boy

Music in a Village Named 1PB from director and producer Surabhi Sharma (India)

“An observational documentary set in the desert landscapes of Rajasthan, where a rich and ancient music culture struggles to survive against the challenges of modern economic development.”

APSA History:  Nominated Best Documentary Feature Film, 2014 for Bidesia in Bambai

Wajib by screenwriter/director Annemarie Jacir (Palestine)

“A beautifully constructed satire which gives an unexpected insight into the complex lives of Palestinian families living in Nazareth in northern Israel.

Jacir was nominated for Best Youth Feature Film, 2013 for When I Saw You (Lamma Shoftak) and profiled in APSA-produced documentary series Scene by Scene.

ABOUT THE ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS & ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN ACADEMY

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards are the region’s highest accolade in film, and now in its 9^th edition, the nominees represent 39 films from 22 countries and areas of Asia Pacific.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards, now with a permanent home in Brisbane; Australia’s New World City, are presented by Treasury Casino & Hotel, supported by Brisbane City Council and managed by economic development board Brisbane Marketing. APSA has the privilege of a unique collaboration with Paris-based UNESCO and FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations, and recognises and promotes cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and is responsible for half of the world’s film output.

All nominees, International Nominations Council and APSA International Jury members are inducted into the APSA Academy presided over by President, Australian screen legend Jack Thompson. The Academy boasts over 870 of the region’s leading filmmakers and provides exclusive networking, development and funding opportunities available to Academy members through the APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize, the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, the APSA Academy Children’s Film Fund and Academy mentoring opportunities for the next generation of Asia Pacific filmmakers through the Asia Pacific Screen Lab. The APSA’s Academy partner, the European Film Academy shares the common interest of presenting pan-International Awards that promote and award excellence in cinema.