US and Japan Movies Win Big in The Asia Pacific International Filmmaker Festival and Awards

July 26, 2017 - PRLog -- The Asia Pacific International Filmmaker Festival and Awards (APIFA) hosts its annual festival, commemorating International Humanitarian Day in Kuta, Bali recently. The red carpet Awards Ceremony inaugurated by King Tallo, Haji Andi Abdul Rauf Maro Daeng Marewa (Karaeng Rewa) of Tallo Sultanate, Makassar.

In his opening speech, King Tallo Karaeng Rewa complimented the festival, saying that it has become more impressive and festive. King Kendal Semarang, Sri Anglung Prabu Punta Djajanagara, congratulated the winners of the Festival and said that film festival with humanity theme brings the essential spirit of human values.

The Asia Pacific International Filmmaker Festival and Awards was founded five years ago to provide support to independent filmmakers while giving a platform for international filmmakers to spread their excellent films to the Asia-Pacific region.

After passing tight selection process of hundreds of films submitted, juries of the Festival finally selected few leading films as Best Movie candidates. The Platinum Awards winners' list of the Festival are:

In Search of Perfect Consonance (short film) directed by Ruby Yang.
Mah e mir (feature film) directed by Anjum Shahzad.
Million Loves in Me (director and lead actor) directed by Sampson Yuen.
Tatara Samurai (feature film) directed by Yoshinari Nishikôri.
Tea Pets (feature film) directed by Gary Wang.
Two Zions: The Living Legacy of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon (documentary) directed by Cheryl Halpern

On the Awards Night, the jury announced that the overall winners of the festival went to Tatara Samurai directed by Yoshinari Nishikôri, and Two Zions: The Living Legacy of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, directed by the American female director, Cheryl Halpern.

With its 16th-century setting, Tatara Samurai tells a story of a young man living in the village of Tatara. He must choose between becoming the next Murage (Master Blacksmith), following his father and grandfather footsteps, or a samurai. At that time, Tatara was one of the important steel producers and was often become the target of clans seeking high-quality steel. The film is judged to have high production quality, visually artistic, and bring valuable virtue about the actual meaning of the samurai.

Two Zions: The Living Legacy of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon tells about the "Two Zions". It focuses on the Zions of Jerusalem, Israel, and Axum, Ethiopia, and smoothly describes the relationship between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba that has connected two peoples and cultures through their religious observances. These have continued to carry since 950 BC until now. The film is recognized by the juries to give appreciation for the value of humanity and civilization that shaped the modern people. The film is directed expertly, well-edited, informative, and entertaining.

See the Awards Ceremony here