The 2015 edition of Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) has awarded Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya during a ceremony held in Brisbane, Australia. She received the event’s Special Mention for the Best Performance by an Actress for her portrayal of a nurse in ‘Avalanche,’ directed by Iranian filmmaker Morteza Farshbaf.

Kirin Kiki won the award for Best Performance by an Actress for her role in “An” from Japan while the award for Best Performance by an Actor went to Jung Jaeyoung for his role in “Right Now, Wrong Then” from South Korea.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand received the best film award for “Cemetery of Splendor” and Alexey German Jr. from Russia won the best director award for “Under Electric Clouds”. The award for best cinematographer went to Mark Lee Ping-bing from Taiwan for his collaboration in director Hou Hsiaohsien’s “The Assassin”.

The 2015 APSA International Jury was presided by South Korean filmmaker Kim Dong-Ho. He was joined by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh), Zhang Xianmin (China), U-Wei Bin HajiSaari (Malaysia), Alexei Popogrebsky (Russia) and Negar Javaherian (Iran). Javaherian won the UNESCO Award at the APSA in 2013 for her performance in Maziar Miri’s “Painting Pool”.

Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and South Korean actor Jung Jaeyoung at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Iranian actresses Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and Negar Javaherian (Member of the international jury) at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Nominees for Best Performance by an Actress at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA) Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Australia – November, 2015 (Photo by APSA)

Established in 2007, APSA is an international cultural initiative to honor and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of the Asia-Pacific region, under the auspices of UNESCO and FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

About Fatemeh Motamed-Arya

Born in 1961, Fatemeh Motamed-Aria is one of the most significant Iranian actresses, who has won numerous national and international awards, including the Best Actress Prize of the 2011 Montreal Film Festival in Canada and the Prix de Henri-Langlois award of the 2012 Vincennes International Festival in France. ‘Once Forever’ (1993), ‘Blue-Veiled’ (1995), ‘Gilaneh’ (2004) and ‘Here Without Me’ (2011) are among the films she has performed in so far.

Sources: Tehran Times, Payvand, asiapacificscreenacademy.com, Instagram | apscreenawards, taghato.net