TEHRAN – “Starless Dreams” by Iranian filmmaker Mehrdad Oskui won best feature documentary at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the organizers announced on Thursday.

Oskui, who is also the producer of the documentary, received the award during a lavish ceremony at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) in Australia.

The documentary, which has been awarded at many international events, shows the lives of seven young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and detention center on the outskirts of Tehran.

“City of Jade” by Midi Z from Taiwan, “Exile” by Rithy Panh from Cambodia, “Snow Monkey” by George Gittoes from Australia and “Under the Sun”  by Vitaly Mansky from Russia were also nominated for the award.

Iranian producer Manuchehr Mohammadi also honored with the 10th APSA FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film in the Asia Pacific region. 

The award for best feature film was presented to the Turkish film “Cold of Kalandar” directed by Nermin Aytekin. “Daughter” by Reza Mirkarimi and “Muhammad, the Messenger of God” by Majid Majidi, both from Iran, were also competing for the award. 

Chinese cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bing was honored with the jury grand prize for his collaboration in “Crosscurrent”.

Best director award went to Feng Xiaogang from China for his “I Am Not Madame Bovary”.

Manoj Bajpayee from India won the award for best actor for his role in “Aligarh” while the award for best actress was presented to Hasmine Killip from the Philippines for her extraordinary performance in “Ordinary People”.

Farhad Aslani from Iran was also among nominees for best actor award for his role in “Daughter” while the writer of movie Mehran Kashani was nominated for the best screenwriter award, which was presented to co-writers Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tadashi Nohara and Tomoyuki Takahashi for “Happy Hour” from Japan.

“The World of Us” by Yoon Ga-eun from South Korea received the Best Youth Feature Film Award while the Iranian film “Breath” by Narges Abyar was nominated for the award.

Photo: Director/producer Mehrdad Oskui celebrates after accepting the award for best documentary for “Starless Dreams” during the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia on November 24, 2016. (APSA)

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