Nansun Shi appointed president of APSA jury

Highly regarded Hong Kong film producer Nansun Shi has been appointed as the President of the 2011 International Jury of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), the APSA announced on Wednesday.

Chairman of the APSA Des Power said the APSA has been honored to host International Juries whose members have been amongst the most distinguished in the film industries of Asia-Pacific and beyond.

"This year is no exception with five members representing an enormous breadth of experience and understanding of cinema from a variety of cultures and continents," Power said.

Shi will be joined on the Jury by Cameron Bailey, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival, Japanese director and actress Kaori Momoi, Israeli director Samuel Maoz, and the Executive Chairman of the China Film Producers Association, Ming Zhenjiang.

The 2011 APSA International Jury will meet on Australia's Gold Coast in late November ahead of the APSA Ceremony on Nov 24, 2011.

More than 240 films from 43 countries are competing in this year's event, including, for the first time, films from Samoa and Cyprus. Nominees will be announced in early October.

Shi has been in the film industry for more than 30 years and produced some of Asia's biggest commercial hits including Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Dragon Tiger Gate, the Once Upon a Time in China series starring Jet Li and the Aces Goes Places series.

Variety magazine named Shi one of the 50 most influential independent filmmakers in the world.

Shi is also a member of the Hong Kong Film Development Council.

Ming Zhenjiang, one of China's best-known film producers and reviewers and a highly regarded poet and writer, is the Executive Chairman of the China Film Producers Association, the People's Republic of China's official representative of FIAPF International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

Ming is also President of August First Film Studios.