Director Johnnie To\'s Hong Kong crime adventure Sparrow is the front-runner for the second annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with four nominations, including best film.
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan\'s Three Monkeys, is the next in line, with three nominations.
Both are in the running for best feature film alongside India\'s Om Shanti Om, China\'s The Red Awn and Kazakhstan\'s Tulpan.
Australia and New Zealand are represented for the first time at the awards with Elissa Down\'s The Black Balloon nominated in the children\'s feature category and Vincent Ward\'s Rain of the Children in the running for best documentary feature.
APSA chair Des Power said the \"nominees represent the creativity and breadth of talent that exists in the burgeoning film industries of our region\". 37 films from 17 countries will compete in nine categories, with the winners to be announced November 11 at a ceremony on Queensland\'s Gold Coast.
The nominees in the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards are:
BEST FEATURE FILM
Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (The Red Awn)Produced by Li Xudong, Lin Nianxiu, Sun Xiaoxi, Wang Shunsheng, Chen Weidong (People’s Republic of China)
Men Jeuk (Sparrow)Produced by Johnnie To (Hong Kong)
Om Shanti OmProduced by Gauri Khan (India)
Tulpan Produced by Gulnara Sarsenova, Karl Baumgartner, Valerie Fischer, Bulat Galimgereyev, Sergey Melkumov, Sergey Selyanov, Elena Yatsura, Henryk Romanowski, Thanassis Karathanos, Raimond Goebel (Kazakhstan/Russia/ Switzerland/Poland/Germany)
Uc maymun (Three Monkeys)Produced by Zeynep Özbatur, Fabienne Vonier, Valerio De Paolis, Cemal Noyan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey/France/Italy)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Byul-byul Yi-ya-gi 2: Yeo-seot-bit-ggal Mu-ji-gae (If You Were Me: Anima Vision 2)Produced by Nam Kyu-sun (Republic of Korea)
Stranger Mukoh Hadan (Sword of the Stranger) Produced by Masahiko Minami (Japan)
Vals im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir)Produced by Yael Nahlieli, Ari Folman, Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul, Theirry Garrel, Pierette Ominetti (Israel/France/Germany)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
33 Yaoum (33 Days)Produced by Mai Masri, Mohammad Belhaj, Jean Chamoun (Lebanon/Qatar)
Ggeutnaji Anhmeun Jeon Jaeng (63 Years On)Produced by Lee SeungGu (Republic of Korea)
Kantata TakwaProduced by Setiawan Djody, Erros Djarot, Gotot Prakosa (Indonesia)
Rain of the ChildrenProduced by Vincent Ward, Marg Slater, Tainui Stephens, Kero Nancy Tait (New Zealand)
TinarProduced by Mahdi Moniri (Islamic Republic of Iran)
BEST CHILDREN’S FEATURE FILM
The Black BalloonProduced by Tristram Miall (Australia), Sally Ayre-Smith, Elissa Down, Jimmy Jack, Mark Turnbull
MahekProduced by Children’s Film Society, India (India)
Pisay (Philippine Science)Produced by Auraeus Solito Jr, Endi Balbuena and Paul Morales, Linda Cordova, Erwin Navarro (Philippines)
Siri Raja Siri (King Siri)Produced by Renuka Balasooriya, Somaratne Dissanayake (Sri Lanka)
Taare Zameen ParProduced by Aamir Khan, Ajay Bijli, Sanjeev K Bijli (India)
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Kim Jee-woon for Joheunnon nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Republic of Korea)
Johnnie To for Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa for Tokyo Sonata (Japan/The Netherlands/Hong Kong)
Sergey Dvortsevoy for Tulpan (Kazakhstan/Russia/Switzerland-Poland-Germany)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Hong Sang-soo for Bam guan at (Night and Day, Republic of Korea)
Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis for Etz Limon (Lemon Tree, Israel/France/Germany)
Dervis Zaim for Nokta (Dot,Turkey)
Behnam Behzadi for Tanha do bar zendegui mikonim (Before the Burial, Islamic Republic of Iran)
Max Mannix, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sachiko Tanaka for Tokyo Sonata (Japan/The Netherlands/Hong Kong)
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Lee Mogae for Joheunnon nabbeunnom isanghannom (The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Republic of Korea)
Kiiran Deohans for Jodhaa Akbar (India)
Cheng Siu-keung for Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong)
Oleg Kirichenko for Rusalka (Mermaid, Russian Federation)
Gökhan Tiryaki for Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Omarbekova Nesipkul for Baksy (Native Dancer, Kazakhstan/Russian Federation/France/Germany)
Hiam Abbass for Etz Limon (Lemon Tree, Israel/France/Germany)
Akie Namiki for Jitsuroku Rengo Sekigun: Asama Sanso Eno Michi (United Red Army, Japan)
Miao Pu for Ying Tao (Cherries, People’s Republic of China)
Daria Moroz for Zhivi I pomni (Live and Remember, Russian Federation)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Reza Naji for Avaze Gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows, Islamic Republic of Iran)
Kim Yoon-suk for Chugyeogja (The Chaser, Republic of Korea)
Simon Yam for Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong)
Rajat Kapoor for The Prisoner (India)
Alireza Aghakhani for Tanha do bar zendegui mikonim (Before the Burial, Islamic Republic of Iran)
In addition, three major awards will be presented for outstanding achievement.
FIAPF Award
The FIAPF - International Federation of Film Producers Associations will determine the winner of the award for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia-Pacific region.
UNESCO Award*
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film.
Jury Grand Prize* The Jury can, at its discretion, present a further award - the Jury Grand Prize.
*Nominees and nominated films from all award categories are eligible for these prizes to be decided by the APSA Jury.
