Special prize of Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Kiarostami
EghtesadOnline: The 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) plans to honor late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami with a special prize for the first time in the history of the event.
For his remarkable vision in his last movie “24 Frames”, the organizers will commend Kiarostami with a special Artistic Acknowledgement, and the APSA Academy confers a posthumous Academy membership on him.
“24 Frames is an exquisite reverie on scenes from nature. Through still, but precise frames, and aided by subtle staging or effects, he captures the haunting, haiku-like poetry of nature, its beauty, amorousness and brutality,” Kim Hong-joon, chair of the APSA International Nominations Council has said.
“The play with the double meaning of ‘frame’ reflects his profound mediation on the cinematic form,” ISNA quoted him as saying.
Celebrated Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami and director of “Certified Copy”, “Taste of Cherry”, “Through the Olive Trees” and “Where Is Friend’s Home” died in July 2016.
In addition, this year the Iranian cinema has received three nominations at APSA.
“A Man of Integrity”, a drama directed and produced by Mohammad Rasulof about a goldfish farmer who is battling corporate oppression in northern Iran, has been nominated for Best Feature Film award.
Fereidun Najafi’s “The Skater”, also known as “The Skier” that portrays childish persistence, has received a nomination in the Best Youth Feature Film category.
Navid Mohammadzadeh has been nominated for the best actor award for his role in the acclaimed drama “No Date, No Signature” directed by Vahid Jalilvand.
The 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be presented in Brisbane on November 23.
Meanwhile, the second edition of the Sheed Film Festival in the State of Texas, USA, will also be held in honor of this great Iranian director. So the statue of this festival was changed by the name of one of Kiarostami's big films, "Close Up".
The porpuse of this festival is to present contemporary cinema talents from Iran and Persian-speaking artists from around the world. It will be held from November 10th to 12th in Dallas with the participation of 9 feature films in the competitive category and 6 films in the non-competition category.