‘Guria’ Wins Best Film At Asia Pacific Screen Awards; ‘9 Temples To Heaven’ Takes Best Director

Guria, directed by Georgia’s Levan Koguashvili, won Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on the Gold Coast, Australia, with the film’s producers Olena Yershova, Koguashvili and Boris Frumin recognised for the international co-production.

Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse received Best Director for 9 Temples To Heaven, with a Special Mention going to Myanmar director Aung Phyoe for Fruit Gathering.

The Jury Grand Prize was presented to Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat for No Good Men, acknowledging her “compelling approach to storytelling and her contribution to contemporary Afghan cinema”.

New Zealand filmmaker Paloma Schneideman and producers Vicky Pope and Thomas Coppell received Best Youth Film for Big Girls Don’t Cry, while Best Animated Film award went to The Violinist, co-directed by Singapore’s Ervin Han and Spanish filmmaker Raúl García.

Best Documentary Film award was presented to filmmakers Itab Azzam and Jack MacInness for One In A Million, a UK and U.S. co-production which was recognised for its documentary storytelling and exploration of a Syrian refugee’s lived experience.

Best Screenplay went to Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi and Pôl Seif for Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep, a collaboration involving Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Rising Korean talent Sim Su-bin received Best New Performer for The World Before, while Nepalese performer Pushpa Thing Lama was awarded Best Performance for Elephants In The Fog.

Vietnamese cinematographer Nguyễn Vinh Phúc received Best Cinematography for Hearing. The Cultural Diversity Award was presented to Another Birth, directed and produced by Isabelle Kalandar, a collaboration between Tajikistan, U.S. and Qatar (see full list of award winners below).

Also announced during this year’s APSAs ceremony were the five recipients of the 2026 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, each receiving a grant of $10,000, supported by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The five recipients include Indian director Payal Kapadia and producer Thomas Hakim for A Memory Of Being Here (India); Cambodian-French director Davy Chou and producer Charlotte Vincent for My Father’s Glory (France, Cambodia); Chinese director Taifeng Liu and producer Janet Wu for A Place In The Sun (China); and Singaporean director Nicole Midori Woodford and producer Anthony Chen for Incarnation (Singapore, Japan).

The fifth project, documentary The Story Of My Shirt, from Zhanana Kurmasheva and producer Banu Ramazanova, is a a co-production involving Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Chile.

Tracey Vieira, chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, said: “Tonight we celebrate an exceptional group of filmmakers whose work reflects the courage, creativity and cultural richness of the Asia Pacific. From Guria and No Good Men to Elephants In The Fog, this year’s winners remind us of the extraordinary stories emerging from our region and the importance of creating opportunities for these voices to be recognised internationally.

ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS 2026:

BEST FILM: Guria
Directed by Levan Koguashvili
Produced by Olena Yershova, Levan Koguashvili, Boris Frumin
(Georgia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Norway, Saudi Arabia)

JURY GRAND PRIZE: Shahrbanoo Sadat, No Good Men
(Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Afghanistan)

BEST YOUTH FILM: Big Girls Don’t Cry
Directed by Paloma Schneideman
Produced by Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell
(New Zealand)

BEST ANIMATED FILM: The Violinist
Directed by Ervin Han, Raúl García
Produced by Paloma Mora, Cristiano Bortone, Justin Deimen, Leonard Lai, Takafumi Yuki
(Singapore, Spain, Italy)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM: One In A Million
Directed by Itab Azzam, Jack MacInness
Produced by Itab Azzam, Jack MacInness, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer, Raney Aronson-Rath
(UK, U.S.)

BEST DIRECTOR: Sompot Chidgasornpongse, 9 Temples to Heaven
(Thailand, Singapore, France, Norway, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Qatar)

BEST DIRECTOR – SPECIAL MENTION: Aung Phyoe, Fruit Gathering
(Myanmar, Czech Republic, France)

BEST SCREENPLAY: Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi, Pôl Seif, Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep
(Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nguyễn Vinh Phúc, Hearing
(Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan)

BEST PERFORMANCE: Pushpa Thing Lama, Elephants In The Fog
(Nepal, Germany, Brazil, France, Norway)

BEST NEW PERFORMER: Sim Su-Bin, The World Before
(South Korea)

CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD: Another Birth
Directed by Isabelle Kalandar
Produced by Isabelle Kalandar
(Tajikistan, U.S., Qatar)

YOUNG CINEMA AWARD: R Gowtham, Members Of The Problematic Family
(India)