18th Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

It's been a while since the last time I did an APSA winners post and couldn't help but noticing it was the year Parasite won top APSA honors and also the Oscar for Best Film smashing the category crystal ceiling and opening opportunities for other non-American non-English films to vie for Oscars in other categories besides International Feature Film.

Could it happen again? Who knows; but, this year APSA's top honor went to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident and this Cannes Palm d'Or winner according to industry pundits has also chances to go for top Oscar in 2026.

So, yesterday APSA's awards ceremony took place at The Langham Hotel in the infamous Australia's Gold Coast honoring the most powerful and resonant filmmaking from across the world's most diverse and prolific screen region. Drawn from 24 countries and regions with this years entries, the 2025 APSA winners reflect the artistic depth, cultural breadth and exceptional craft that defines cinema in the Asia Pacific.

The Chair of APSA Tracy Viera commented "Tonight, we honour extraordinary cinematic voices from across 22 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific, and I extend my warmest congratulations to all the winners of the 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. This year, we continue to see a powerful surge of emerging filmmakers whose bold, authentic storytelling reflects one of the most diverse collections of perspectives APSA has ever showcased." Indeed winners seem strong emerging filmmakers but in past years Asian countries submissions to Oscar's International Feature Film category were profusely honored while this edition besides Panahi's film there are no other film entry.

The Winners

Best Film: Un simple accident (It Was Just and Accident), Jafar Panhi, Iran, France and Luzembourg
Jury Grand Prize: Harà Watan (Lost Land), Akio Fujimoto, Japan, France, Malaysia and Germany
Best Youth Film: Amoeba, Tan Siyou, Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain and South Korea
Best Animated Film: The Square, Kim Bo-sol, South Korea

Best Documentary Film: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Sepideh Farsi, France and Palestine Special Mention: Always, Deming Chen, USA, France, China and Taiwan

Best Director: Jafar Panahi for Un simple accident (It Was Just and Accident), Jafar Panhi, Iran, France and Luzembourg

Best Screenplay: Chie Hayakawa for Renoir, Chie Hayakawa, Japan, France, Singapore, Phiippines, Indonesia and Qatar
Best Cinematography: Batara Goempar for Samsara, Garin Nugroho, Indonesia

Best Performance: Sean Lau in Papa, Cheuk Man Au and Philip Yung, Hong Kong
Best New Performer: Yui Suzuki in Renoir, Chie Hayakawa, Japan, France, Singapore, Phiippines, Indonesia and Qatar

Cultural Diversity Award: Black Red Yellow, Aktan Arym Kubat, Kyrgystan
Young Cinema Award (in partnership with NETPAC): Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, India, UK and Canada

FIAPF Award: Geer Simpkin, Australia

2025 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Recipients
Anocha Suwichakornpong for project Fiction, Thailand
Kareem Abeed for Where is My Father, Syria (documentary)
Yosep Anggi Noen for The Sea Speaks His Name, Indonesia
Thien An Phan and Jeremy Chua for Heaven in a Wildflower, Vietnam

Filmmaker Forum Award: Prabhath Gurang for Son of a Hunter project, Nepal
Special Mention: Borcsa Vass for Guilty project, Australia

To check press release go official site here.