Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s All of a Sudden and Abinash Bikram Shah’s Elephants in the Fog are entering the next stage of their international awards journeys after major Cannes successes, with both films drawing attention ahead of the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. While the 2026 APSA nominations have not yet been officially announced, the two titles arrive with strong festival credentials.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards are scheduled to return to Gold Coast, Australia, from October 28 to 30, with the awards ceremony set for October 30. The awards celebrate films and filmmakers from across the Asia Pacific region, making the upcoming nominations an important milestone for internationally recognised regional cinema.
For Hamaguchi Ryusuke, All of a Sudden marks a significant departure from his earlier Japanese-language work. The 196-minute drama is his first French-language feature and is set largely in France. The film follows Marie-Lou, a care facility director, and a Japanese theatre director facing cancer. It is a France, Japan, Germany and Belgium co-production.
The film made a strong impression at Cannes, where its premiere was followed by an 11-minute standing ovation, with reports of audience members crying during the response. It subsequently earned Best Actress honours for Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto.
Its Cannes recognition was followed by another significant awards development when Japan selected All of a Sudden as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. That puts the film into the early international conversation surrounding the 2027 Oscars while adding another layer to its festival and awards-season trajectory.
Elephants in the Fog, meanwhile, brings a very different story to the emerging awards conversation. Abinash Bikram Shah’s feature debut is set in a Nepalese village surrounded by forest and follows Pirati, the matriarch of a Kinnar community, as she searches for her missing daughter while confronting a difficult choice between personal freedom and responsibility to her community.
The filmmaking process was closely connected to the community represented in the film. Shah spent time with Kinnar people, listening to their experiences and building relationships before and during the writing process. The production also involved performers from the community. Instead of depending entirely on fixed dialogue, the filmmakers incorporated situations and improvisation, allowing performers to respond naturally and subsequently shaping the final scenes.
At Cannes, Elephants in the Fog made history as the first Nepalese feature selected for Un Certain Regard before winning the section’s Jury Prize. The achievement gave Nepal a significant new presence at one of the world’s most closely watched film festivals and brought greater international attention to Shah’s debut.
Beyond their awards prospects, the two films represent markedly different approaches to international filmmaking. Hamaguchi has built a multilingual European collaboration around a story connecting French and Japanese characters, while Shah has developed a Nepalese story through sustained engagement with the community at its centre. Their contrasting paths add two distinct cinematic voices to the Asia Pacific awards conversation.
For now, the next major milestone is the official APSA nominations. All of a Sudden enters that period with Cannes acting recognition and Japan’s Oscar selection, while Elephants in the Fog carries a historic Cannes prize for Nepalese cinema. Their respective journeys highlight the range of stories emerging from the Asia Pacific region as the 2026 awards season gathers momentum.
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