TEHRAN -- Iran’s international award-winning “About Elly” grabbed two prizes at the third annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) on Thursday in which 37 films from 16 countries competed.

The movie directed by Asghar Farhadi received the Jury Grand Prize and Best Screenplay Award. The Australian movie “Samson and Delilah” directed by Warwick Thornton won the top prize.
“About Elly” won a Silver Bear for best director at the Berlinale 2009 and was also awarded in the Best Narrative Feature category at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009. It is also representing Iranian cinema in the category of Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in 2010.
Starring Shahab Hosseini, Golshifteh Farahani, Mani Haqiqi, Saber Abar and Merila Zarei, “About Elly” tells the story of middle class Iranians whose trip to the Caspian Sea turns into a disaster as they try to maintain their social customs.
Filmmaker Tahmineh Milani was the Iranian member of the jury headed by Chinese director and producer Huang Jianxin.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards were presented in Gold Coast in the Australian state of Queensland with more than 800 guests from the Asia-Pacific film industry.
Masahiro Motoki “Okuribito” from Japan won the Best Performance Actor Award, and the Best Performance Actress Award went to Kim Hye-ja “Madeo” from South Korea.
Other awards presented to the winners contain the Achievement Directing Award for Lu Chuan and the Achievement Cinematography Award for Cao Yu for the Chinese film “Nanjing! Nanjing!”
“Mary and Max” from Australia won the Best Animated Feature Film Award, and the Best Children’s Feature Film Award went to “Ye Haeng Ja” (A Brand New Life) from South Korea/France.
Photo: “About Elly” director Asghar Farhadi holds the Jury Grand Prize he received at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) during a ceremony in Gold Coast, Australia on November 26, 2009.