Nandita Das, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, bag trophies at the 12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Manto

Manto director Nandita Das was presented the prestigious FIAPF Award for achievement in film in the Asia Pacific region while actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui took home the best actor award at the 12th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday.

The awards are open to 70 countries containing 4.5 billion people. A total of 46 films from 22 territories received APSA nominations this year.

The Bollywood actress and filmmaker’s second feature Manto, based on the life of legendary Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto premiered in UnCertain Regard in Cannes this year and was picked up by festivals including Sydney, Toronto and Busan.

The award winning director, while taking it to social media expressed her gratitude. Nandita tweeted, “Honored to get the #FIAPF APSA Award for the life and work choices I have made. Feeling encouraged to continue to tell the stories that needed to be told Asia Pacific Screen Awards”.

The 44-year-old actor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is being highly praised for his exceptional performance essaying the role Urdu writer Saadat Hassan Manto. He has scored himself the title of the ‘Best Performance by an Actor’ at the 12th Asia Pacific Awards.

The Bollywood star took to social media announcing about his latest achievement. Nawazuddin Siddiqui tweeted, “Honored to have received Best Performance By An Actor Award by #ASPA2018 for my favourite film #Manto. This one is Special, winning for the 2nd Time. Thank you Asia Pacific Screen Award & thank you @nanditadas for believing in me”.

Meanwhile, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or earlier this year,  won the Best Feature Film award at APSA. Film Shoplifters is about a small time thief who takes a young girl home to his family; after seeing scars from abuse, they decide to keep her and raise her as their own.

The South Korean film Burning, a lyrical and anxious adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story Barn Burning, won the Jury Gran Prize at the award show. The Lebanese film Capernaum, about a 12-year-old boy who takes his parents to court “for giving me life” in a world of pain and suffering has won the Nadine Labaki the Best Director award.

The awards are open to 70 countries containing 4.5 billion people. A total of 46 films from 22 territories received APSA nominations this year.