Baigazin's The River scores Asia Pacific Screen Awards nomination

Kazakh director Emir Baigazin's film The River won the Achievement in Directing nomination, Kazinform reports citing Sh.Aimanov Kazakhfilm JSC.

The winners of the 12th annual AsiaPacificScreenAwards ceremony will be announced on November 29 in Brisbane, Australia. It is notable that Emir Baigazin was nominated for the award in the same category in 2013 for Harmony Lessons.

The River was included in the Asian World Film Festival programme which will take place in Los Angeles and in special programmes of the Warsaw and São Paulo international film festivals. The Asian debut of The River will be held in Tokyo from October 25 to November 3, 2018.

"I am immensely grateful to my team, to the people who are faithful to me and my ideas. I would like to thank the Ministry of Culture for their trust and support. I hope for further mutual understanding and common success," said the director.

The film was produced by Kazakhstan (The Ministry of Culture and Sport, Kazakhfilm JSC and Emir Baigazin Production), Norway (Norsk Filmproduksjon) and Poland (Madants). The project was granted the first prize at the Pitch&Meet Warsaw Co-Production Meetings. Post-production works completed in summer 2018 at Orka and Dreamsound studios in Warsaw and was financed by the Polish Film Institute.

The world premiere of the film took place at the Venice Film Festival in Horizons programme where Emir Baigazin was awarded the Best Director prize. The film was also screened at the International Film Festival in Toronto and received the Toronto Platform Prize and an honorable mention from the jury. The film stands also the first in Screen Daily rating.

Besides, Baigazin was awarded the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's first Residency Grant with five other filmmakers. In January 2019, they will travel to Los Angeles for mentorship, master classes and workshops.