Overview
- The 18th APSA ceremony at The Langham on Australia’s Gold Coast honored Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident with best film and best director.
- Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land received the Jury Grand Prize, and Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk was named best documentary.
- Other winners included Amoeba for best youth film, Kim Bo-sol’s The Square for best animated film, Chie Hayakawa for best screenplay (Renoir), Batara Goempar for cinematography (Samsara), Sean Lau for best performance (Papa), and Yui Suzuki as best new performer (Renoir).
- Panahi used his acceptance remarks to urge APSA to safeguard its selection process from government influence.
- APSA announced four $25,000 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund grantees—Anocha Suwichakornpong (Fiction), Kareem Abeed (Where is My Father), Yosep Anggi Noen and Gita Fara (The Sea Speaks His Name), and Thien An Pham with Jeremy Chua (Heaven in a Wildflower)—and presented the FIAPF Award to Australian producer Greer Simpkin.