Shabana to head jury for Asia Pacific Screen Awards

New Delhi, Aug 7 (UNI) Her appearances on the silver screen may have been ''few and far between'' of late but the accolades have not stopped for actor and social activist Shabana Azmi.

In the latest honour for the Bollywood actor-turned-social activist, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) has announced Shabana Azmi as the president of the International Jury for the inaugural awards to be held on November 13 on the Gold Coast, Australia.

Talking about the reasons for choosing Ms Azmi, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Des Power said,''Ms Azmi is undoubtedly one of India's most influential actresses.'' ''The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is strongly committed to cinematic excellence and the promotion of the region's respective cultures through film. There is no better person to head the APSA Jury than Ms Azmi. Her integrity and commitment to the APSA ideals is considerable,'' Mr Power added.

The APSA engages CNN International, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in a unique partnership to acclaim films that best reflect their cultural origins and cinematic excellence.

FIAPF has endorsed the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Charter. The Director General of UNESCO has given his formal endorsement for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be conducted under the auspices of UNESCO.

Being chosen to head the jury for the prestigious awards, the direct telecast of which will be beamed on CNN International, is the latest 'international' honour for Ms Azmi, for whom accolades, both at the national and the international level, have become a way of life.

Among recent awards, Ms Azmi received the International Gandhi Peace Prize at the House of Commons from Vanessa Redgrave and the Crystal Award at Davos from Michael Douglas.

Having acted in more than 140 films, Ms Azmi is considered as one of the torchbearers of parallel cinema (or art house cinema) in India along with Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and late Smita Patil.

She has won rave reviews in film critics' circles for the sensitivity of her portrayals in films such as Deepa Mehta's 'Fire', Shekhar Kapur's 'Masoom', Shyam Benegal's 'Mandi', Satyajit Ray's 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' and Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Makdi' as well as her portrayals in international films like John Schlesinger's 'Madame Sousatzka', Nicholas Klotz's 'Bengali Night', Roland Joffe's 'City of Joy' and Ismail Merchant's 'In Custody'.

For her role in 'Fire', Ms Azmi won the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Chicago Film Festival. She is the only Asian actor to have a retrospective of her films at the New York Film Festival (2002).

At the national level, the actor has won five Indian National Awards as Best Actress and numerous other Indian film awards including the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

Besides her role as an actor, Ms Azmi is also a noted activist who has been actively involved in the rights of women, development, reproductive health, housing for the economically weaker sections, public health and HIV AIDS.

In 1992, she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund and in 2006, she was honoured with the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award for her work with the slum dwellers of Mumbai.

UNI