Each of the four films have been nominated three times, including for the best feature category, it was announced in Singapore tonight. The only other film that has a chance of winning the biggest prize of the November 13 presentation, to be held on Australia's Gold Coast, will be Indonesia's Opera Jawa.
A total of 34 films from 19 countries are among the nominees. The other countries represented are Armenia, Australia, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, Malaysia, Philippines, Russian Federation and Sri Lanka. A nominations council considered over 100 films from 30 countries.
The new awards celebrate cultural diversity and filmmaking excellence - the style and subject matter of the contenders is extremely diverse - and aim to draw more attention to the work of filmmakers in the Asia Pacific. The region covers 71 countries and, according to organisers, produces about half the world's film output.
The awards were initiated by the Queensland Government and are being supported by CNN International, UNESCO and the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).
The international jury is headed by Indian actress and humanitarian, Shabana Azmi. FIAPF and UNESCO awards will also be presented.
The awards are being held to coincide with the annual conference of the Screen Producers Association of Australia. They will be broadcast globally on CNN four days later as part of a documentary. Another documentary about the films of the region will be played two days before the ceremony.
The full list of nominees in the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards are:
Best Feature Film
CARAMEL (Lebanon)
Produced by Anne Dominique Toussaint
NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-E SHAB) (Iran)
Produced by Mehdi Homayounfar
OPERA JAWA (Indonesia)
Produced by Garin Nugroho and Simon Field
SECRET SUNSHINE (MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea)
Produced by Kim In-Soo, Lee Chang-dong and Hanna Lee
TAKVA: A MAN'S FEAR OF GOD (Turkey)
Produced by Sevil Demirci Cakar
Best Animated Feature Film
THE BIG FIGHTING BETWEEN WUKONG AND GOD ERLANG (WUKONG DA ZHAN ER LANG SHEN) (China)
Produced by Hansen Liang and Meiling Zhou
5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (BYOSOKU 5 CENTIMETERS) (Japan)
Produced by Horitaka Kawaguchi
SUMMER DAYS WITH COO (KAPPA NO COO TO NATSUYASUMI) (Japan)
Produced by Yutaka Sugiyama
Best Documentary Feature Film
BEIRUT DIARIES: TRUTH, LIES AND VIDEOS (YAOUMIYAT BEIRUT: HAKAEK WA AKATHEEB) (Lebanon)
Produced by Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun
A GREAT MASTER RECAPTURED (YOU JIAN MEI LAN FANG) (China)
Produced by Feng Gao
THE LOST LAND (SARZAMINE GOMSHODEH) (Iran)
Produced by Documentary and Experimental Film Centre and TOUBA Film
A STORY OF PEOPLE IN WAR AND PEACE (Armenia)
Produced by Vardan Hovhannisyan
VILLAGE PEOPLE RADIO SHOW (APA KHABAR ORANG KAMPUNG) (Malaysia)
Produced by Tan Chui Mui
Best Children's Feature Film
THE BICYCLE (GULONG) (Philippines)
Produced by Menardo Jimenez and Socorro Fernandez
DENIAS, SINGING ON THE CLOUD (DENIAS, SENANDUNG DI ATAS AWAN) (Indonesia)
Produced by Ari Sihasale
LOCKSMITH (GHOFL-SAZ) (Iran)
Produced by Hassan Agha-Karimi
MOTHER NANNY (INANG YAYA) (Philippines)
Produced by Antonio Gloria
MUKHSIN (Malaysia)
Produced by Puad Onah
Achievement in Directing
Nadine Labaki for CARAMEL (Lebanon)
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab for MAINLINE (KHOONBAZI) (Iran)
Shawkat Amin Korki for CROSSING THE DUST (PARINAWA LA GHOBAR) (Iraq/Kurdistan)
Tao Peng for LITTLE MOTH (XUE CHAN) (China)
Zhanna Issabayeva for KAROY (Kazakhstan)
Best Screenplay
Feroz Abbas Khan for GANDHI, MY FATHER (India)
Michael James Rowland and Helen Barnes for LUCKY MILES (Australia)
Kiumars Pourahmad and Habib Ahmadzadeh for NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-E SHAB) (Iran)
Lee Chang-dong for SECRET SUNSHINE (MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea)
Onder Cakar for TAKVA: A MAN'S FEAR OF GOD (Turkey)
Achievement in Cinematography
Yu Wang for THE GO MASTER (WU QINGYUAN) (China)
Trofimov R G C Sergey for MONGOL (Russian Federation)
Palitha Perera for SANKARA (Sri Lanka)
Zhao Fei, Mark Ping-bin Lee and Yang Tao for THE SUN ALSO RISES (China)
Hooman Behmanesh for THOSE THREE (AN SEH) (Iran)
Best Performance by an Actress
Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad, Siham Haddad & Asiza Semaan in CARAMEL (Lebanon)
Hanan Turk in CUT AND PASTE (KAS WA LAZK) (Egypt)
Joan Chen in THE HOME SONG STORIES (Australia)
Baran Kosari in MAINLINE (KHOONBAZI) (Iran)
Do-Yeon Jeon in SECRET SUNSHINE (MIRYANG) (Republic of Korea)
Best Performance by an Actor
Sasson Gabai in THE BAND'S VISIT (BIKUR HATIZMORET) (Israel)
Antropov Evgeniy in HARD-HEARTED (KREMEN) (Russian Federation)
Deok-Hwan Ryu in LIKE A VIRGIN (CHEON HA JANG SA MADONNA) (Republic of Korea)
Mehrdad Sedighian in NIGHT BUS (AUTOBUS-E SHAB) (Iran)
Erkan Can in TAKVA: A MAN'S FEAR OF GOD (Turkey)
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