On November 21st, the award ceremony of the 13th Asia-Pacific Screen Awards took place in Brisbane, Australia, at which the Achievement in Directing APSA has gone to Adilkhan Yerzhanov for his film A Dark, Dark Man.

Yerzhanov is the first director from Kazakhstan who has won the APSA in this nominee. “Asia Pacific Screen Awards” (APSA) is one of the biggest world cinematic awards which held the support of the UNESCO and the FIAPF-International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

The film A Dark, Dark Man was created by "Astana Film Fund" with the participation of the "Short Brothers" and "Arizona Production" film companies. The world premiere of the film took place on September 23rd of this year as part of the main competition program of the 67th San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film was very well received by the world press; it was called the best one in the director’s filmography. The film will be released in Kazakhstan next year.

“This is a great honor, and I am very glad that the combined efforts of our team did not remain unappreciated. My congratulations to the whole crew of the film A Dark, Dark Man!”- Adilkhan Yerzhanov shared his impressions.

Earlier, two films by the director have been already nominated for the APSA: The Owners (2014) was nominated for “Best Film” and “Best Cinematography”, and The Gentle Indifference of the World (2018) - for “Best Film” and “Best Screenplay”.  Adilkhan Yerzhanov is also an honorary member of the APSA Academy.

A Dark, Dark Man tells a story of a boy killed in an aul (Kazakh village). Detective Bekzat (actor Daniyar Alshinov) wants to close the case as soon as possible, because the perpetrator - a harmless local moron Pukuar (Teoman Khos) - has  already been found by local policemen. But everything  falls apart when a journalist Ariana (Dinara Baktybaeva) comes from the city. Now Bekzat must conduct a real investigation, following procedure, for the first time in his career.

The general producers of the film are Akan Satayev and Ernar Kurmashev. Adilkhan Yerzhanov and Roelof Jan Minneboo worked on the script. The producer for international promotion is Olga Khlasheva, the executive producer is Serik Abishev, both collaborated with Yerzhanov on all his films. The DoP is Aydar Sharipov from Russia , he also worked with Yerzhanov on the film "The Gentle Indifference of the World." The production designer is another permanent associate of the director Yermek Utegenov, who worked with Adilkhan Yerzhanov on all his films. The music for the film was created by the famous musician Galymzhan Moldanazar.