TEHRAN -- A group of Iranian cineastes nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) left Iran on November 9 to the Gold Coast, Australia, in order to participate in the presentation ceremony, which will be held on November 13.

The director and screenwriter of “Night Bus”, Kiumars Purahmad, are among the group. His film has been nominated in for the Best Screenplay and the Best Director awards. Mehrdad Sediqian, one of the leading actors of “Night Bus”, who is competing for the Best Actor award, accompanies Purahmad.
The group also comprises Vahid Musaian, whose “The Lost Land” has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film award.
“Night Bus” has also been nominated for the Best Feature Film category, but producer Mehdi Homayunfar was not with the group.
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab, who jointly directed the junkie-centered movie “Mainline”, Baran Kowsari, leading actress of the film, and Hooman Behmanesh, cameraman of “Those Three”, are other nominees of the event, who lost the trip for their busy time.
Iranian celebrated director Jafar Panahi is a jury member of the event.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is cosponsored by CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF -- the International Federation of Film Producers Associations