'Om Shanti Om' nominated for Asia Pacific awards

Sydney, Oct 1 (IANS) "Om Shanti Om", "Jodha Akbar" and "Taare Zameen Par" are amongst five Indian films nominated Wednesday for the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), the highest accolade for film in the region.

The smash hit "Om Shanti Om" has been nominated for Best Feature Film, Ashutosh Gowariker's blockbuster "Jodhaa Akbar" for Achievement in Cinematography, Aamir Khan's critically acclaimed "Taare Zameen Par" and K. Kanade's "Mahek" for Best Children's Feature and Rajat Kapoor has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor for "The Prisoner" by Pryas Gupta.

The awards for the nine out of the 12 APSA categories will be announced at the popular tourist destination of Gold Coast on November 11.

Om Shanti Om will compete with Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong), Tulpan (Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland/Poland/Germany), Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (The Red Awn,People's Republic of China) and Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy) for the Best Feature Film Award.

The Awards have attracted more than 180 films from 43 countries, showcasing the talent and cinematic diversity of a region covering one-third of the earth's surface and 60 per cent of its total population.

A total of 33 films from 17 countries are vying for the nine award categories. "We are greatly encouraged by the response from filmmakers from Asia-Pacific in our mission to acclaim their work and promote it to an international audience," said APSA chairman Des Power.

Two additional awards will be presented for outstanding achievement: The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (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.

APSA is an initiative of the Queensland Government in collaboration with CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF (The International Federation of Film Producers Associations) to acclaim films that best reflect their cultural origins and cinematic excellence.

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Om Shanti Om