Indian films nominated for Asia Pacific Screen awards

Four critically acclaimed Indian films -- Dev D, A Wednesday, Tahaan and Mumbai Meri Jaan -- have been nominated in different categories for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be announced on November 26.

Four critically acclaimed Indian films -- Dev D, A Wednesday, Tahaan and Mumbai Meri Jaan -- have been nominated in different categories for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be announced Nov 26.

HT Image

Anurag Kashyap is nominated in the best director category for his take on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Devdas in Dev D; Santosh Sivan's Tahaan is nominated in the Best Children's Film: Shripal Morakhia and Mubina Rattonsey category; Naseeruddin Shah is nominated for the best actor award for his performance in A Wednesday; and Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and Upendra Sidhaye are nominated for their screenplay for Mumbai Meri Jaan.

Malini Fonseka gets a nomination in best actress category for Akasa Kusum (Flowers of the Sky) - a Sri Lanka and India co-production.

Feroz Abbas Khan, director of Gandhi, My Father, is one of the jury members.

Winners will be announced Nov 26 at the third annual APSA Ceremony on Australia's Gold Coast.

The Asia Pacific Screen awards has announced nominees in nine award categories with 37 films from 16 countries -- Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Palestine, China, South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey.

"Nominees were determined from a record number of 212 entries from 43 countries," said APSA Chairman Des Power in a statement.

APSA is a collaboration between CNN International, Unesco and FIAPF International Federation of Film Producers Associations. Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins.

Japan is strongly represented in 2009 with a total of seven nominations followed by China with six. Iran, Russia and South Korea have received five nominations while India has four.

Countries nominated in the APSAs for the first time this year are Thailand, Cambodia and Palestine.

Nomination List:

Best Feature Film

Darbareye Elly (About Elly) - Iran

Nanjing! Nanjing! (City Of Life And Death) - China

Mei Lanfang (Forever Enthralled) - China

Samson & Delilah - Australia

The Time That Remains - Palestine/France/Italy/Belgium/Britain

Best Animated Feature Film

Perviy Otryad (First Squad: The Moment Of Truth) - Russia/Japan/Canada

Mary and Max - Australia

Sukai Kurora (The Sky Crawlers) - Japan

Sam? W?zu (Summer Wars) - Japan

Pro Fedota-Streltsa, Udalogo Molodtsa (The Tale Of Soldier Fedot, The Daring Fellow),

- Russia

Best Documentary Feature Film

Polamuang Juling (Citizen Juling) - Thailand

Hashmatsa (Defamation) - Israel /Austria /Denmark /US

Gandhi's Children - Australia

L'important, C'est De Rester Vivant (The Main Thing Is To Stay Alive) - Cambodia/ France

Seishin (Mental) - Japan/US

Best Children's Feature Film

Mommo - Kizkardesim (The Bogeyman) - Turkey

Ye Haeng Ja (A Brand New Life) - South Korea/France

3 Doa 3 Cinta (Pesantren: 3 Wishes 3 Loves) - Indonesia

The Strength Of Water - New Zealand/Germany

Tahaan - India

Achievement in directing

Asghar Farhadi for Darbareye Elly - Iran

Vimukthi Jayasundara for Ahasin Wetei - Sri Lanka/France

Lu Chuan for Nanjing! Nanjing! - China

Anurag Kashyap for Dev D - India

Sion Sono for Ai No Mukidashi - Japan

Best Screenplay

Asghar Farhadi for Darbareye Elly - Iran

Kundo Koyama for Okuribito - Japan

Baek Seung-bin for Jang-rye-sik-ui Member - South Korea

Bong Joon-ho and Park Eun-kyo for Madeo - South Korea

Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and Upendra Sidhaye for Mumbai Meri Jaan - India

Achievement in Cinematography

Uruphong Raksasad for Sawan Baan Na - Thailand

Cao Yu for Nanjing! Nanjing! - China

Ali Mohammad Ghasemi for Cheraghi Dar Meh - Iran

Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Bumaznyj Soldat - Russia

Alexei Arsentiev for Volchok - Russian

Best Performance by actress

Golshifteh Farahani for Darbareye Elly - Iran

Zhou Xun for Li Mi De Caixiang - China

Malini Fonseka for Akasa Kusum - Sri Lanka/India

Kim Hye-ja for Madeo - South Korea

Yana Troyanova for Volchok - Russia

Best Performance by actor

Masahiro Motoki for Okuribito - Japan

Naseeruddin Shah for A Wednesday - India

Mohamed Bakri for Eid Mila Laila - Palestinie/Tunisia /Netherlands

Yang Ik-june for Ddongpari - South Korea

Ge You for Fei Cheng Wu Rao - China