Iran topped the winners at the 8th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia by bagging four prizes from among the five nominations.
The Jury Grand Prize for 2014 went to the legendary filmmaker Rakhshan Bani-Etemad for her celebrated drama ‘Tales’, MNA reported.
Best Screenplay was awarded to Nima Javidi for his debut film ‘Melbourne’, starring APSA Academy members Payman Moaadi and Negar Javaherian.
Iranian writer/producer/director Reza Dormishian was the 2014 recipient of the APSA Academy Netpac Development Prize for his second feature film ‘I’m Not Angry’. An award for emerging talent, the prize amount of $10,000, is dedicated to a first or second-time feature filmmaker in the narrative feature competition.
A Special Mention for Best Performance by an Actress went to actress Merila Zareie for her performance in the acclaimed war/drama ‘Track 143’ directed by Narges Abyar.
Receiving her award at the ceremony, Zarei said, “I come from Iran, a vast and rich country; rich not for its oil but for the mothers who sacrificed their sons and husbands for defending their country during the 8-year-long war.” And she asked the audience to honor the mothers of her homeland and applaud them.
A screen adaptation of Abyar’s novel ‘The Third Eye’, tells the story of a woman during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Cinematic Excellence
All the Iranian prize-winning films have previously attended various festivals across the globe garnering several awards.
Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi presided over the six-member jury panel of this year’s APSA. He is a three-time APSA winner including Best Screenplay and the Jury Grand Prize for ‘About Elly’ in 2009, as well as Best Film for ‘A Separation’ in 2011.
Films from China, Iraq, Turkey, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, and New Zealand won other awards of this year’s festival.
APSA recognizes and promotes cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the vast Asia Pacific region.
A total of 36 films from 21 Asia-Pacific countries and areas were nominated this year. Over 250 films competed from 42 countries. The awards ceremony was held in Brisbane’s historic City Hall on December 11.
