‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Heads Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” collected four nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, making it the narrow favorite ahead of the three times nominated “Snow Leopard,” by the late Pema Tseden.

The narrow lead matches the overall pattern this year’s, where Japanese and Chinese films dominate APSA nominations proceedings.

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Nominations were announced at midnight on Thursday in Gold Coast, Queensland, where the final awards will be celebrated on Nov. 3.

“Evil Does Not Exist,” an eco-drama that premiered in Venice, is nominated in best film, best director, best screenplay and cinematography categories. “Snow Leopard” has nods for best film, best screenplay and best performance. Pema Tseden, aka Wanma Caidan, died in May this year, age 53. “Snow Leopard” is his fifth film to be nominated at the APSAs – four as director, one as producer.

The other three features nominated for best film are: Wim Wenders’ Japan-set “Perfect Days,” Georgian story “Citizen Saint” (aka “Mokalake Tsmindani”) by Tinatin Kajrishvili, and “Qas” (aka “Qash”) by Aisultan Saitov (Kazakhstan). Hamaguchi previously won the APSA for best film with 2021’s “Drive My Car.”

In the running for APSA best screenplay award, alongside Pema Tseden and Hamaguchi, are Anthony Shim for “Riceboy Sleeps” (Canada, Korea), Liang Ming for “Carefree Days” (China) and Nicole Midori Woodford for “Last Shadow at First Light” (Singapore, Japan, Slovenia, Philippines, Indonesia).

For the APSA best director, Hamaguchi is up against Celine Song for “Past Lives” (Korea, U.S.), Darkhan Tulegenov for “Brothers” (aka “Bratya”) from Kazakhstan, Liang for “Carefree Days” and India’s Rima Das for “Tora’s Husband.”

In the running for best animation film are: “Deep Sea,” directed by Tian Xiaopeng (China); two Japanese hits “The First Slam Dunk” directed by Inoue Takehiko and “Suzume,” by Shinkai Makoto; Australia’s “Scarygirl” directed by Ricard Cussó and co-directed by Tania Vincent; and “The Siren” directed by Sepideh Farsi.

The APSA for best performance is gender-neutral for the second year. The three female and two male nominees are Yakusho Koji for his role in “Perfect Days,” Mihaya Shirata for her role in “Last Shadow at First Light,” Mouna Hawa for her role in “Inshallaha Boy,” China’s Zhou Dongyu for her role in “The Breaking Ice”; and Jinpa for his role in “Snow Leopard.” 

Along with the nominations, two award-winners were also announced. The APSA Cultural Diversity Award will be presented to “Rapture” (aka “Rimdogittanga”), directed by Dominic Megam Sangma. The Garo-language film is a rare co-production between India and China. It explores the politics of fear in a north-east Indian village, where the community fears kidnapping and the church warns of a period of apocalyptic darkness. 

The 2023 APSA Young Cinema Award will be presented to Vietnamese director Ph?m Thiên Ân for his feature debut “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” a high-style film journeying from urban to rural Vietnam to reunite a grieving family. The award is presented in partnership with the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) and the Griffith Film School.

“As the region’s film industry flourishes, it is significant that almost half of the nominations this year go to first- or second-time filmmakers, who are vying for the awards alongside some of the most celebrated filmmakers of our time,” said chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, Tracey Vieira. “APSA would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the sad loss of two highly accoladed filmmakers, Pema Tseden and Sakamoto Ryuichi, APSA winners whose last works are nominated this year, and whose stories live on in their films, cherished around the world.”

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