Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya is among the nominees at the 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) for her role in �Avalanche�, Iran�s only entry at this year�s edition.

She is competing with four others from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Russia for the Best Performance (female) award, Mehr News Agency reported.

The announcement completes the lineup of nominations for the awards, with a total of 39 films from 22 countries. The winners will be awarded at a ceremony on November 26 at City Hall, Brisbane, Australia.

Director Morteza Farshbaf�s second feature film, �Avalanche� was premiered at the 20th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, earlier this month.

The film is the story of a nurse, played by Motamed-Arya, who agrees to look after an elderly woman and subsequently gets swamped in a complex relationship with her.

Ahmad Hamed, her husband, is also in the cast.
Philanthropist
Motamed-Arya, 54, is a nine-time nominee for the best actress award at the Fajr International Film Festival and has won the Crystal Simorgh four times. She played the lead character in �Nabaat�, Azerbaijan�s nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 2014 Academy Awards.

Involved in charity, she helps raise funds for various causes. Her latest gesture was putting up her Crystal Simorgh award, (for best actress in �Gilaneh� in 2005), on sale in support of the homeless.

Her portrait was displayed besides 15 international figures who have contributed to the common good of humanity and transformed the way one thinks, at a multimedia exhibition titled �The Transformative Power of Art� at the UN Exhibit in New York earlier in June.

 

�Jury
The 2015 APSA International Jury includes celebrated Iranian actress Negar Javaherian along with five others.

Javaherian, 32, was the star of the film �The Painting Pool� which won the APSA UNESCO Award in 2013. She has also performed in �Gold and Copper�, �Here Without Me�, �A Cube of Sugar�, �Tales�, �Melbourne� and �Minor Leap Down�, all entries in international festivals.

She was awarded the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 28th Fajr International Film Festival in 2010 and the Silver Astor Award for Best Actress in the 29th Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina, in 2014.

Iran topped the winners in the previous round of the event by bagging four prizes from among five nominations.

By Financial Tribune