Benegal to head Asia Pacific Screen Awards Jury this year

Benegal to head Asia Pacific Screen Awards Jury this year

NEW DELHI: Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal, known as one of the pioneers of the art film movement in the country and the launch of serious television series, will Chair the International Jury of the Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Speaking at the Busan International Film Festival, APSA executive chairman Michael Hawkins noted that with India celebrating one hundred years of cinema, it was only befitting that the jury be led by a filmmaker of ‘such gravitas’, adding that the work of selection was being undertaken by a ‘remarkable group of eminent filmmakers.

The jury includes the renowned Srilankan filmmaker Malini Fonseka, Turkish actor Tamer Levent, Swiss director Christoph Schaub, Korean screenwriter and director Tae-yong, and Hong Kong producer Albert Lee.

Awards will be presented in six categories at the APSA be held at Brisbane in Australia on 12 December.

Benegal, made his debut with Ankir in 1974 which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival, won three national awards, and was nominated for the Academy awards.

Since then, Benegal has made 26 feature films which have won him acclaim in India and overseas. He has also won the highest honour in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In addition, he made the epochal ‘Discovery of India’ series based on the book of that name by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.