I read about the CNN's Asia Pacific Screen Awards from Gibbs Cadiz's blog.

Films from Japan, Iran, Australia, China, Hongkong, India, South Korea and the Philippines are vying for the CNN Viewers Choice Award for the most favorite Asia Pacific film of all time.

Philippines is being represented by Ishmael Bernal's Himala.



Online voting closes on 31 Oct 2008. Awarding will be on 11 November 2008.

I've only seen three of the shortlisted films: Himala, Seven Samurai and Crouching Tiger. This award will now want me to watch them all.

Below are the shortlisted films (in alphabetical order):

Chungking Express (China)
Written and filmed in 1994 by Wong Kar-wai, the movie comprises two different stories, told one after the other, each about a Hong Kong cop and his relationship with a woman. The first story stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin and the second stars Tony Leung, Faye Wong and Valerie Chow.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China)
Released in 2000 and directed by Ang Lee, the film tells about a legendary martial artist who has decided to pass on his sword, the Green Destiny, to a friend. The sword was stolen which tested the bonds of family, love, duty, and sisterhood among the film's characters. The film enjoyed a huge international success and was regarded as the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history. It starred Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen and won the 2001 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.

Gabbeh (Iran)
Released in 1996 and directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the fantasy/reality film tells of a beautiful young woman, named Gabbeh (literally means a carpet), who is desperately in love with a mysterious horseman who follows her in the after life. The story is delicately interlaced with stories of people whose lives are shaped by the rhythms of nature, and who instinctively express the joys and sorrows of life through song, poetry, and the tales they tell in their brilliantly-hued weavings. Won Singapore International Film Festival's Silven Screen Award in 1997.

Gallipoli (Australia)
The movie is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Battle of Gallipoli. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. Nominated for Golben Globe's Best Foreign Film in 1982.

Himala (Philippines)
The 1982 film was directed by Ishmael Bernal, written by Ricky and top-billed by Nora Aunor. Himala was based on the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary on Cabra Island in 1967. The story revolves around Elsa who claimed to saw the Virgin Mary and starts healing people. People flocked to her among them a skeptic filmmaker who was able to capture on film some of Elsa's dark secrets which lead to Elsa's sister's suicide. Won the Chicago International Film Fest's Bronze Hugo Award in 1983.

Infernal Affairs (Hong Kong/China)
Released in 2003 and directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, the film is about a cop who goes undercover into the Triad and about a Triad member who infiltrates the police department. Each mole was planted to gain an advantage in intelligence over the other side. The more the moles become involved in their undercover lives, the more issues they have to cope with. In 2006, Martin Scorsese remade the film (The Departed) which won him his first Oscars for Best Director.

Oldboy (South Korea)
Released in 2003 and directed by Chan-wook Park, the film follow the story of Dae-Su who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor's motives. When he is finally released, Dae Su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and strangeness. His own quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls for an attractive sushi chef. The film won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Pather Panchali (India)
Titled in English as Song of the Little Road, the film released in 1955 and directed by Satyajit Ray was based on Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's novel. It tells of a boy, Apu, born to a poor Brahmin family in a village in Bengal. The father, a poet and priest, cannot earn enough to keep his family going. Apu's sister, Durga, is forever stealing guavas from the neighbour's orchards. All these add to the daily struggles of the mother's life, notwithstanding her constant bickering with old aunt who lives with the family. It won the Cannes' Best Human Document Award in 1956.

Seven Samurai (Japan)
Edited and directed by Akira Kurosawa, the 1954 film takes place around 1587/1588 and follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai (ronin) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. The film is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, and is one of a select few Japanese films to become widely known in the West. Nominated for Oscars Best Art Direction in 1957.

Spirited Away (Japan)
A 2001 anime film, written and directed by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki, tells of Chihiro and her parents who take a wrong turn in a strange place filled with the gods of Japan's mythology. The parents mysteriously turned into pigs after eating a mysterious food and Chihiro had to find a way to save her parents from a dinner platter. The film was the first anime to win an Academy Award for Best Animation.

Sources for the above summaries are http://www.imdb.com/ and wikipedia.
Photo of Himala was from UCLA International Institute's Center for Southeast Asian Studies .

The clannish me still roots for Himala. Regardless.