Iranian artists shine at APSA festival

Tehran, Dec 14, IRNA - Several Iranian artists have been honored at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) festival held in Australia. Director Nima Javidi received the Best Screenplay Award for ‘Melbourne’. The film chronicles the story of a young couple on their way to the eponymous Australian city to continue their education. But just a few hours before their departure, they become involved in a tragic event. Director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad was presented the event’s Grand Jury Prize for her ‘Tales’. The movie is composed of seven short episodes, in which Bani-Etemad reveals the fate of some of the main characters in her previous films like ‘The Blue-Veiled’, ‘Under the Skin of the City’ and ‘Mainline’. Actress Merila Zarei won the APSA for Best Actress for her role in the acclaimed Iranian war drama ‘Track 143’, directed by female filmmaker Narges Abyar. The movie premiered at Iran’s 2014 Fajr International Film Festival and garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences. ‘Track 143’ is a screen adaptation of Abyar’s novel, ‘The Third Eye’, which tells the story of a woman during Iran’s Sacred Defense era (the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war). The film has been presented at a number of international festivals and has won several awards. Reza Dormishian also won the APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize for ‘I’m Not Angry’. 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. Some 36 screen productions from 21 regional countries competed in this year’s festival. The 2014 APSA was held in Brisbane’s historic City Hall on December 11./end