Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili’s Guria won Best Film at the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), held on October 30 at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The film, produced by Koguashvili alongside Olena Yershova and Boris Frumin, emerged as the top winner at the ceremony, which recognised films and filmmakers from across the Asia Pacific and other international territories.
Thailand’s Sompot Chidgasornpongse won Best Director for 9 Temples to Heaven, while Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat received the Jury Grand Prize for No Good Men. This year’s awards featured 36 nominated films representing 32 countries and regions, highlighting the diversity of filmmaking across the region.
India also featured prominently among the recognitions, with veteran producer Bobby Bedi receiving the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film in the Asia Pacific and filmmaker R. Gowtham winning the Young Cinema Award, presented in partnership with the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC). Additionally, Payal Kapadia’s upcoming project A Memory of Being Here was selected for the 2026 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.
Directed by Levan Koguashvili, Guria is an international co-production involving Georgia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Norway and Saudi Arabia. Koguashvili shared the Best Film recognition with producers Olena Yershova and Boris Frumin.
The film, which premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s 2026 Venice Spotlight section, is a comedy set in the early 1990s in a village in western Georgia. It follows a cash-strapped hazelnut farmer navigating financial difficulties and personal challenges while searching for love.
The film’s seven-country production reflects the international collaborations that featured prominently across this year’s APSA winners. Its recognition also brings international attention to Georgian cinema and Koguashvili’s filmmaking.
According to the National Film Centre of Georgia, Guria was also selected as Georgia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. The selection adds another significant international milestone to the film’s journey.
Thai filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse won Best Director for 9 Temples to Heaven, an international co-production involving Thailand, Singapore, France, Norway, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Qatar. The film previously premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Myanmar filmmaker Aung Phyoe received a Special Mention in the directing category for Fruit Gathering, a co-production between Myanmar, the Czech Republic and France.
The Jury Grand Prize went to Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat for No Good Men. The film, produced through a collaboration involving Germany, France, Norway, Denmark and Afghanistan, was selected as the opening film of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival.
The directing and jury awards recognised filmmakers working across different cultural and production environments, with international collaborations featuring prominently among the selected films.
New Zealand filmmaker Paloma Schneideman won Best Youth Film for Big Girls Don’t Cry, which she directed and produced alongside Vicky Pope and Thomas Coppell.
The Best Animated Film award went to The Violinist, co-directed by Singapore’s Ervin Han and Spain’s Raúl García. The film was produced by Paloma Mora, Cristiano Bortone, Justin Deimen, Leonard Lai and Takafumi Yuki, with Singapore, Spain and Italy involved in the production.
The Best Documentary Film award was presented to One in a Million, directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInness. The United Kingdom and United States co-production follows the life of a Syrian refugee. The film was also produced by Azzam, MacInness, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer and Raney Aronson-Rath.
The Best Screenplay award went to Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi and Pôl Seif for Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep, a production involving Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Vietnamese cinematographer Nguyễn Vinh Phúc received Best Cinematography for Hearing, an international co-production involving Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan.
In the acting categories, Nepalese actor Pushpa Thing Lama won Best Performance for Elephants in the Fog, while South Korean performer Sim Su-bin received Best New Performer for The World Before.
Indian producer Bobby Bedi received the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film in the Asia Pacific. The recognition acknowledges his contribution to cinema through films that have challenged audiences and reached viewers beyond India.
FIAPF President Luis Alberto Scalella highlighted Bedi’s work on landmark films such as Bandit Queen and Fire, noting their impact and international resonance.
Meanwhile, Indian filmmaker R. Gowtham won the Young Cinema Award, presented in partnership with NETPAC, for Members of the Problematic Family. The recognition adds to India’s presence among this year’s competitive award recipients.
The awards also recognised Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia through the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, which selected her upcoming project A Memory of Being Here for development support.
The Cultural Diversity Award went to Another Birth, directed and produced by Isabelle Kalandar. The film is a collaboration between Tajikistan, the United States and Qatar.
Malaysian filmmaker Haziqah Azemi received the Forum Filmmaker Award, presented in partnership with The Post Lounge Group, for her project Garek. The story follows a woman whose relationship is tested when she faces religious persecution after becoming pregnant outside marriage.
Azemi previously participated in the Griffith Film School and APSA Regional Reels programme. She returned to APSA this year after developing the project with mentorship from APSA Academy member Yulia Evina Bhara.
The Forum Filmmaker Award recognises projects at the development stage, providing a platform for filmmakers to advance their work through industry connections and professional support.
The ceremony also announced five projects selected for the 2026 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. Each project will receive a $10,000 grant funded entirely by the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
The selected projects are A Memory of Being Here, directed by Payal Kapadia and produced by Thomas Hakim (India); My Father’s Glory, directed by Davy Chou and produced by Charlotte Vincent (France and Cambodia); A Place in the Sun, directed by Taifeng Liu and produced by Janet (Yan Yan) Wu (China); Incarnation, directed by Nicole Midori Woodford and produced by Anthony Chen (Singapore and Japan); and The Story of My Shirt, directed by Zhanana Kurmasheva and produced by Banu Ramazanova (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Chile).
Three of the five selected projects are directed by women, reflecting the range of filmmakers receiving development support through the initiative.
The fund has previously supported projects that went on to receive international recognition. 9 Temples to Heaven, this year’s Best Director winner, received support through the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in 2021. Producer Anthony Chen also returns to the fund with Incarnation, following his earlier association with We Are All Strangers, which received a grant in 2023 and was among this year’s nominees.
Motion Picture Association President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Urmila Venugopalan highlighted the importance of supporting filmmakers and their stories from the earliest stages of development. She pointed to the journey of 9 Temples to Heaven as an example of the value of such initiatives.
Asia Pacific Screen Awards chair Tracey Vieira highlighted the range of stories and filmmaking voices represented among this year’s winners. Referring to Guria, No Good Men and Elephants in the Fog, Vieira emphasised the importance of creating opportunities for filmmakers from across the region to receive international recognition.
The APSA Academy, which brings together nominees, members of the nominations councils and juries, provides an additional international network for filmmakers and industry professionals. The organisation has more than 1,816 members across 84 countries and areas, with Australian screen veteran Jack Thompson serving as its president.
The 19th edition of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards recognised films from a wide range of production territories, while also extending support to projects at the development stage through the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.
Complete List of 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2026 Winners
- Best Film: Guria – Levan Koguashvili; producers Olena Yershova, Levan Koguashvili and Boris Frumin.
- Jury Grand Prize: No Good Men – Shahrbanoo Sadat.
- Best Director: Sompot Chidgasornpongse – 9 Temples to Heaven.
- Best Director – Special Mention: Aung Phyoe – Fruit Gathering.
- Best Youth Film: Big Girls Don’t Cry – Paloma Schneideman.
- Best Animated Film: The Violinist – Ervin Han and Raúl García.
- Best Documentary Film: One in a Million – Itab Azzam and Jack MacInness.
- Best Screenplay: Rakan Mayasi, Wahid Ajmi and Pôl Seif – Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep.
- Best Cinematography: Nguyễn Vinh Phúc – Hearing.
- Best Performance: Pushpa Thing Lama – Elephants in the Fog.
- Best New Performer: Sim Su-bin – The World Before.
- Cultural Diversity Award: Another Birth – Isabelle Kalandar.
- Young Cinema Award (in partnership with NETPAC): R. Gowtham – Members of the Problematic Family.
- FIAPF Award: Bobby Bedi.
- Forum Filmmaker Award: Haziqah Azemi – Garek.
2026 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Recipients
- A Memory of Being Here – Payal Kapadia; producer Thomas Hakim.
- My Father’s Glory – Davy Chou; producer Charlotte Vincent.
- A Place in the Sun – Taifeng Liu; producer Janet (Yan Yan) Wu.
- Incarnation – Nicole Midori Woodford; producer Anthony Chen.
- The Story of My Shirt – Zhanana Kurmasheva; producer Banu Ramazanova.