TEHRAN – Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s drama “A Hero” received nominations in four categories, including best film and best director, at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) as the organizers announced nominees on Wednesday. 

The co-production between Iran and France tells the story of Rahim, who is in prison because he was unable to pay a debt. During a two-day leave of absence from prison, he attempts to have his creditor withdraw his complaint over part of the sum owed. But things don’t go as planned.

Amir Jadidi was nominated for a best actor award for his portrayal of Rahim in the film, which also received a nomination for its screenplay written by Farhadi. 

“Drive My Car” by Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is the film’s major competitor in the best feature film category.

Other nominees in the best director category are Dea Kulumbegashvili for “Beginning” from Georgia and France, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for “Drive My Car” from Japan, P S Vinothraj for “Pebbles” from India and Kamila Andini for “Yuni” from Indonesia, Singapore and France.

Other contenders for the best actor award are Levan Tediashvili for “Brighton 4th” from Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Monaco and the U.S., Hidetoshi Nishijima for “Drive My Car” from Japan, Merab Ninidze for “House Arrest” from Russia, and Caleb Landry Jones for “Nitram” from Australia.

“Careless Crime”, an Iranian drama co-written by Nasim Ahmadpur and director Shahram Mokri is competing for the best screenplay award.

The film shows that protestors forty years ago, during the uprising to overthrow the Shah’s regime in Iran, set fire to movie theaters as a way of showing opposition to Western culture. Forty years have passed and, in contemporary Iran, four individuals also decide to burn a cinema down. Their intended target is a theater showing a film about an unearthed, unexploded missile. Will past and present meet?

“Drive My Car” co-written by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and OE Takamasa, “Here We Are” written by Dana Idisis, and “Sughra’s Sons” co-written by Asif Rustamov, Roelof Jan Minneboo and Ilgar Najaf have also been nominated for the best screenplay award.

Thirty-eight films from 25 Asia Pacific countries and areas are competing in the APSA 2021.

Winners will be announced on November 11 during the APSA on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Photo: Amir Jadidi acts in a scene from Asghar Farhadi’s drama “A Hero”.

MMS/YAW