Oh Lordy, it's the Asian Oscar's

The who's who of world cinema pour into town for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards tonight.Having won a Best Picture Oscar for his film Chariots Of Fire and been up another three times for The Killing Fields, The Mission and Midnight Express, Lord David Puttnam (above) knows a thing or two about awards ceremonies. So when he says the Asia Pacific Screen Awards could be the most important film awards `outside of the Oscars' it carries some weight.
``It strikes me there's a fantastic opportunity for awards like this,'' he says.
``Ironically the opportunity, in a sense, is created by the Oscars and the limited categories for foreign films.
``The chances of those audiences ever getting to see some of the movies that I've seen in the past few days are very slim.
``So to throw this enormous searchlight on half of the world's population and the movies they're making, which are very good indeed, throw all that together and what you've got is a recipe for something very important.
``I guess you could say logically, over time, they could become the most important awards outside of the Oscars.''

Lord Puttnam arrived on the Gold Coast last week and is the Jury President for the 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He and six other members of the Jury have spent the past few days watching and deliberating over the 31 films from 15 countries and territories that have been nominated for awards. Lord Puttnam says the `sheer variety of films and staggeringly good performances' has made the deliberation process difficult.
``In some categories it's going to be very difficult, in others there are one or two stand outs,'' he says.
``In one category in particular, all five are incredible.
``The overall quality of the movies has been very, very . . .well, I haven't dropped off to sleep once so that's a good sign.
``I would say if there's been one highlight so far its been the quality of the films.''Also on the Jury is acclaimed Indian actress Tannishtha Chatterjee (above) who says she is proud to be `representing a region' at the awards.
``It actually covers a lot of diverse cultures,'' she says.
``It's a treat to watch films from very different parts of the world and I always say that cinema at the awards festivals has been very Euro-centric and American, but it's a great initiative that this is Asia Pacific.
``Language and culture are important and I think something like this is a fantastic forum for filmmakers of this region to come together and appreciate each others work.''

Chatterjee is best known for her performance in Brick Lane where she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress alongside Judi Dench and Anne Hathaway. Nominees for the awards are already on the coast ahead of the event tonight, including director Feng Xiaogang and producer Wang Zhongjun for Chinese film Aftershock, which is up for a record six nominations, New Zealand actor James Rolleston from Boy, which is up for Best Children's Feature Film, and many more. Australian nominated are Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, for Best Animated Feature Film, and Bran Nue Day, for Best Children's Feature Film, and Australian actor Tony Barry is up for Best Performance. The 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards are being held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre tonight. Stay peeled for the full coverage tonight.