Merab Ninidze wins best actor prize at Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2021
Merab Ninidze playes a Russian professor falsely accused of embezzlement in House Arrest.
Photo: METRAFILMS LLC, KINOPRIME FOUNDATION
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Georgian actor Merab Ninidze has won the best actor prize for his role in House Arrest at Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2021.
In the film, Ninidze plays David, a Russian professor who is falsely accused of embezzlement and placed under a house arrest after criticising the administration of his city on social media.
British film magazine Screen International described watching Ninidze's performance as 'abrasive pleasure.'
Another Georgian Levan Tediashvili was also listed among the best actor nominees for his role in Levan Koguashvili's Brighton 4th, which has been selected as Georgia's Oscar contender for the next Academy Awards for the Best International Feature Film category.
A former Olympic wrestler himself, Tediashvili plays Kakhi in Brighton 4th, a retired wrestling champion, who travels to the US to help his son out of a gambling debt.
American entertainment outlet Variety praised Tediashvili's performance for being 'dignified' and 'quietly charismatic.'
During the award ceremony, Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili received a grant from the APSA Academy Film Fund for her upcoming project Historia.
The 2021 Asia Pacific Screen Awards ceremony was held online from Queensland, Australia.
Filmmakers Salome Jashi and Dea Kulumbegashvili have been nominated for this year's European Film Awards for their award-winning works Taming the Garden and Beginning, with thousands of European Film Academy members to vote for selections ahead of the awards ceremony in Berlin next month.
Georgian director Levan Koguashvili’s new feature Brighton 4th has won three awards at the 31st FilmFestival Cottbus, one of the most prestigious festivals of East European cinema. “Minimalist acting is more than enough to show the inner steps of his fatal decision. The authenticity of the portrayal evokes emotions that will not let go of the viewer”, the international festival jury said.
A national panel of film professionals has selected director Levan Koguashvili's Tribeca Film Festival award-winning Brighton 4th as Georgia's contender for the next Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Dea Kulumbegashvili's debut feature 'Beginning' has been unveiled as Georgia's bid for the next Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, after a Georgian National Film Centre commission picked the San Sebastian Film Festival-winning film for the honour on Wednesday.