Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film wins 3 awards at APSA

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da” (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) has won three awards at the fifth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA).

Ceylan won the achievement in directing award, the film’s Gökhan Tiryaki was presented with the award for achievement in cinematography and producer Zeynep Atakan was awarded the Screen International Jury Grand Prize.

Iranian producer and director Asghar Farhadi’s “Jodaeiye Nader az Simin” (A Separation) took home the award for best feature film.

“The films in the competition are all very, very wonderful films, but two films stood out to the jury as outstanding in all aspects of their filmmaking: ‘A Separation’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.’ They are very different kinds of films, but both of them are the same in their excellence in every aspect of their filmmaking: from screenplay, to directing, to performances, to their technical craftsmanship, such as cinematography and editing – everything,” said the 2011 APSA International Jury president, Hong Kong’s Nansun Shi.

The APSA ceremony was attended by more than 550 Australian and international guests, including filmmakers from all 19 countries and territories represented in the awards nominations.

The APSAs – an initiative of the Queensland Government, Australia through Events Queensland that also features the collaboration of UNESCO and International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) – acclaim films from 70 countries and areas. Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins