Guria takes top prize at APSA
A Georgian co-production won best film at the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, held in Queensland, Australia, last week.
By Marco Ortega ·
Levan Koguashvili’s film “Guria” won the best film prize at the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The ceremony took place on October 30 at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Koguashvili shared the award with producers Olena Yershova and Boris Frumin. The movie was produced across seven countries: Georgia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Norway, and Saudi Arabia.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards have recognized regional cinema since 2007. This year marked the 19th edition of the event. The 2026 ceremony featured a field of 36 nominated films from 32 countries and regions. The awards honor distinct categories including narrative, documentary, and animation, alongside specific recognitions for youth cinema and cultural diversity.
Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse received the best director award for “9 Temples to Heaven.” This co-production involved eight territories, including Thailand, Singapore, France, and Qatar. Myanmar filmmaker Aung Phyoe earned a special mention in the directing category for “Fruit Gathering.” Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat took the Jury Grand Prize for her film “No Good Men.”
Performance awards went to Nepalese actor Pushpa Thing Lama for “Elephants in the Fog” and South Korean actor Sim Su-bin for “The World Before.” The latter received the best new performer honor. Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi, and Pôl Seif won the screenplay award for “Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep,” a project backed by five countries including Belgium and Palestine. Vietnamese cinematographer Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won for the film “Hearing.”
New Zealand’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” won the best youth film prize. Directed by Paloma Schneideman and produced by Vicky Pope and Thomas Coppell, the film represented the youth cinema category. The animation award went to “The Violinist,” a co-production from Singapore, Spain, and Italy. Itab Azzam and Jack MacInness won best documentary for “One in a Million,” a U.K.-U.S. film tracking a Syrian refugee’s life.
Isabelle Kalandar received the Cultural Diversity Award for “Another Birth,” a collaboration between Tajikistan, the U.S., and Qatar. She both directed and produced the project. Indian filmmaker R. Gowtham earned the Young Cinema Award, given in partnership with NETPAC, for “Members of the Problematic Family.” Malaysian filmmaker Haziqah Azemi won the Forum Filmmaker Award for her project “Garek,” which follows a woman facing religious persecution after an out-of-wedding pregnancy.
The ceremony also announced five projects selected for the 2026 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Each project will receive a $10,000 grant funded by the Motion Picture Association. The selected works include Payal Kapadia’s “A Memory of Being Here” and Davy Chou’s “My Father’s Glory.” Three of the five projects are directed by women. Producer Anthony Chen is returning to the fund after his 2023 nominee “We Are All Strangers.”
Veteran Indian producer Bobby Bedi received the FIAPF Award for outstanding contribution to film in the Asia Pacific. Luis Alberto Scalella, president of FIAPF, noted that Bedi championed powerful stories through films like “Bandit Queen” and “Fire.” The Asia Pacific Screen Awards Academy, which includes all nominees and jury members, now has over 1,816 members across 84 countries and areas. Jack Thompson serves as the body's president.
Source: Variety
