The official website of Asia Pacific Screen Awards announced nominees for the APSA Best Animated Film category on Oct 4, 2023, which included Takehiko Inoue’s The First Slam Dunk and Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume No Tojimari.

Both The First Slam Dunk and Suzume released in 2022 and went on to become the fifth highest and fourth highest grossing Japanese movies of all time respectively.

While Slam Dunk movie won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in 2023, Suzume became the first anime film to screen at the Berlin International Film in 21 years.

The two anime films will be up against Tian Xiaopeng’s Deep Sea, Ricard Cussó’s and Tania Vincent’s Scarygirl, and Sepideh Farsi’s The Siren.

32 films from 17 Asia Pacific countries and areas are nominated in the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with films from Japan receiving 11 nominations and films from the People’s Republic of China receiving 9 nominations.

Nominations are determined by the APSA Nominations Councils. In 2023, the APSA International Nominations Council is composed of the following members: Bina Paul (India) – Chair, Anderson Le (United States), Delphine Garde-Mroueh (France), Gulnara Abikeyeva (Kazakhstan), John Badalu (Indonesia), Kiki Fung (Hong Kong), and Yoshi Yatabe (Japan).

Meanwhile, the 2023 APSA Youth, Animation, and Documentary International Nominations Council includes: Faramarz K-Rahber (Australia) – Chair, Carl Joseph Papa (Philippines), and Zoe Sua Cho (New Zealand, Republic of Korea).”

The 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Red Carpet and award ceremony is scheduled to take place on Nov 3, 2023, at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Gold Coast, Australia.

Tracey Vieira, Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, congratulated all the first set of winners and all the nominees in the 16th edition of the awards.

APSA would like to congratulate the first winners and all nominees for the 16th edition of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 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. APSA would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the sad loss of two highly accoladed filmmakers, Pema Tseden and Ryuichi Sakamoto, APSA winners whose last works are nominated this year, and whose stories live on in their films, cherished around the world.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia. It is often referred to as the “Asia-Pacific Oscars”.

The initiative aims to fulfill UNESCO’s objectives of promoting and preserving diverse cultures through the influential medium of cinema. APSA recognizes and promotes films, actors, directors, and cultures from the Asia Pacific region to a global audience.

Source: Official Website