Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident Wins Best Film at 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Jafar Panahi’s slow-burn thriller It Was Just an Accident was awarded Best Film, with Panahi receiving the award for Best Director at the 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards ceremony in Australia.

The Jury Grand Prize was awarded to Lost Land (Harà Watan), Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto’s moving journey of Rohingya siblings separated from family.

Other awards went to Singaporean filmmaker Tan Siyou for Best Youth Film for Amoeba, a film exploring adolescence within the pressure-cooker of Singapore’s societal norms.

Set against the charged political backdrop of the DPRK, The Square by Korean director Kim Bo-sol was awarded Best Animated Film.

Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, an intimate film, built from video conversations inside Gaza, offering a powerful and urgent snapshot of daily life under siege, received Best Documentary Film.

The FIAPF Award for outstanding contribution to film in the Asia Pacific was presented to Australian producer Greer Simpkin, honoring her entrepreneurial leadership and influential work throughout the Australian Film Industry.

All APSA nominees, Nominations Councils and Jury members are inducted into the prestigious APSA Academy presided over by Australian screen legend Jack Thompson AM PhD. In 2025 the APSA Academy will total more than 1,725 of the region’s leading filmmakers.

Chair of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Tracey Vieira said, “Tonight, we honour extraordinary cinematic voices from across 22 countries and areas of the Asia Pacific, and I extend my warmest congratulations to all the winners of the 18th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. This year, we continue to see a powerful surge of emerging filmmakers whose bold, authentic storytelling reflects one of the most diverse collections of perspectives APSA has ever showcased.”

See below the complete of 2025 Asia Pacific Screen Awards Winners – by Award Category

BEST FILM

It Was Just an Accident (Un simple accident)
Islamic Republic of Iran, France, Luxembourg
Directed by Jafar Panahi | Produced by Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin

JURY GRAND PRIZE

Lost Land (Harà Watan)
Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany
Directed by Akio Fujimoto | Produced by Kazutaka Watanabe

BEST YOUTH FILM

Amoeba
Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain, Republic of Korea
Directed by Tan Siyou | Produced by Fran Borgia

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Square
Republic of Korea
Directed by Kim Bo-sol | Produced by Park So-hye, Kim Bo-sol

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
France, Palestine
Directed by Sepideh Farsi | Produced by Javad Djavahery

SPECIAL MENTION — DOCUMENTARY

Always
USA, France, People’s Republic of China, Taiwan
Directed by Deming Chen | Produced by Hansen Lin

BEST DIRECTOR

Jafar Panahi — It Was Just an Accident (Un simple accident)
Islamic Republic of Iran, France, Luxembourg

BEST SCREENPLAY

Chie Hayakawa — Renoir
Japan, France, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Batara Goempar — Samsara
Indonesia

BEST PERFORMANCE

Sean Lau — Papa
Hong Kong

BEST NEW PERFORMER

Yui Suzuki — Renoir
Japan, France, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar

CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD

Black Red Yellow
Kyrgyzstan
Directed & Produced by Aktan Arym Kubat

YOUNG CINEMA AWARD (in partnership with NETPAC)

Rohan Parashuram Kanawade — Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda)
India, United Kingdom, Canada

FIAPF AWARD

Greer Simpkin (Australia)
Recognised by FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations for her significant contribution to the screen industry in the region.

2025 MPA APSA ACADEMY FILM FUND RECIPIENTS

Academy Member Anocha Suwichakornpong for the Thai project Fiction.

Academy Member and director Kareem Abeed for the Syrian documentary Where is My Father.

Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen and Academy Member/producer Gita Fara for The Sea Speaks His Name.

Director Thien An Pham with Academy Member Jeremy Chua for the Vietnamese fiction feature Heaven in a Wildflower.

FILMMAKER FORUM AWARD

(presented by The Post Lounge Group)

Prabhath Gurung – Son of a Honey Hunter
Whose project shows the greatest creative and professional growth across the week of the APSA Forum.