9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Winners

A few minutes ago the awards ceremony closed with the announcement of the big winner of the night and to my surprise the top award goes to Cementery of Splendour and NOT to what I was expecting, The Assassin. Sigh. Nevertheless I'm sure that Apichatpong Weerasethakul movie most be a dreamy trip into great cinematography and storytelling. Great.

Still considering the nominees, winners tend to be on the unexpected side as most not honored films have collected major awards in the festival circuit, which I believe only means that this year jury had bold or unconventional choices, sigh.

Hosted by Singaporean Cannes award-winning filmmaker and APSA Academy member Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo) and Australia�s Channel 7 presenter Sofie Formica, the ceremony represents the Asia Pacific�s highest accolade in film.

These are the winners

Best Feature Film: ????????????? Rak ti Khon Kaen (Cementery of Splendour), Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany and UK

Best Documentary Feature Film: Datong (The Chinese Mayor), Hao Zhou, China
Best Animated Feature Film: ??? Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai (Miss Hokusai), Keiichi Hara, Japan
Best Youth Feature Film: ????? Gtsngbo (River), Sonthar Gyal, China

Achievement in Directing: Alexey German Jr. for ??? ?????????????? ???????? Pod elektricheskimi oblakami (Under Electric Clouds), Russia, Ukraine and Poland

Jury Grand Prize
Emin Alper for writing and directing Abluka (Frenzy), Turkey, Qatar and France
Park Jung-bum for writing, directing and actin in Sanda (Alive), South Korea

Best Performance by an Actress: Kirin Kiki in An, Naomi Kawase, Japan, France and Germany
Best Performance by an Actor: Jung Jaeyoung in Jigeumeun Matgo Geuttaeneun Teullida (Right Now, Wrong Then), Sang-soo Hong, South Korea

Best Screenplay: Senem T�zen for Ana Yurdu (Motherland), Turkey and Greece

Achievement in Cinematography: Mark Lee Ping-Bing for ????? Nie Yin niang (The Assassin), Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan
Special Mention: Lu Songye for Tharlo, Pema Tseden, China

APSA UNESCO Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion and Preservation of Cultural Diveristy Through Film: Hany Abu-Assad for Ya Tayr El Tayer (The Idol), Palestine, Qatar, UAE, UK and Netherlands
Special Mention: Stephen Page for Spear, Australia

FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievements in Film: Esaad Younis, Egypt
APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize: Mirlan Abdykalykov for Sutak, (Heavenly Nomadic), Kyrgyzstan

More than 290 films from 70 countries vied for nomination across 10 categories. This year, 39 of the region�s finest films were selected to contend for the prestigious awards. If you missed our live coverage or simply want to revisit the event, watch the footage here or view the winners and browse the image gallery from the stunning Red Carpet and Ceremony.  To check winners info go to official site here and to read official press release go here.