'Gandhi My Father' nominated for 'Asia Pacific Screen Awards

New Delhi, Oct 7 (UNI) After wowing critics in India, Feroz Abbas Khan's 'Gandhi My Father', a film dealing with the troubled relationship between the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and his elder son Harilal, is now winning accolades on the international scene.

The film, which marks Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor's debut in film production, has bagged a nomination at the prestigious Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the region's highest accolade in the field of cinema.

Featuring Bollywood actor Akshay Khanna as Gandhiji's elder son Harilal, and the theatre actor Darshan Jariwala in the role of Gandhiji, the film been nominated in the category of Best Screenplay.

'Gandhi My Father' figures in the nominations list for Best Screenplay along with Australia's 'Lucky Miles' (screenplay by Michael James Rowland and Helen Barnes), Iranian film 'Autobus-E-Shab' (Night Bus) (screenplay by Kiumars Pourahmad and Habib Ahmadzadeh), Korean film 'Secret Sunshine' ('Miryang') (screenplay by Chang-Dong Lee) and the Turkish film 'Takva: A Mana's Fear of God' (Screenplay by Onder Cakar).

Nominees in the inaugural Asia Pacific Screen Awards, which honour the works of filmmakers across the region covering more than 70 countries, were announced at a gala event in Singapore this weekend. Feature films in contention for Best Feature Film are 'Caramel' (Lebanon), 'Night Bus'('Autobus-E-Shab') (Iran), 'Opera Jawa') (Indonesia), 'Secret Sunshine') ('Miryang') (Republic of Korea) and 'Takva: A Man's Fear Of God (Turkey).

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is a collaboration between CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF- the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

The finalists are drawn from all over the Asia-Pacific region with 34 films nominated from 19 countries: Armenia, Australia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Asia Pacific Screen Awards Chairman, Des Power, said,''It is remarkable that the Awards in their first year have drawn entries from so many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Clearly filmmakers and the industry value the purpose and benefit of these Awards and the global broadcast platform of CNN International.'' He said the films nominated this year represented the extraordinary creativity and energy of filmmakers across the Asia-Pacific region.

''The range and quality of their films undoubtedly reflect the aims of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to celebrate both cinematic excellence and cultural diversity, Power said.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be presented at an Awards ceremony on the Gold Coast, Australia, on November 13, 2007, following deliberation by a distinguished International Jury headed by Indian actress and humanitarian, Shabana Azmi.

Among those in fray for the Best Actor Award are Sasson Gabai in 'The Band's Visit' ('Bikur Hatizmoret') (Israel) , Antropov Evgeniy in 'Hard-Hearted' (Kremen) (Russian Federation), Deok-Hwan Ryu in 'Like A Virgin'('Cheon Ha Jang Sa Madonna') (Republic of Korea) and Mehrdad Sedighian in 'Night Bus' ('Autobus-E-Shab') (Iran) and Erkan Can in 'Takva: A 'Man's Fear Of God' (Turkey) .

Two additional major Awards will be presented for outstanding achievement: the FIAPF Award for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia-Pacific region and the UNESCO Award for outstanding contribution to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is producing television programmes attached to the inaugural 2007 Awards for global broadcast on CNN International.

UNI