[caption id="attachment_136437" align="alignright" width="177"] Iranian actress Merila Zarei at the 8th edition of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA).[/caption]
Iranian actress Merila Zarei has been honored at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) festival held in Australia.
Zareiwon the APSAfor Best Actress for her role in the acclaimed Iranian war drama Track 143 directed by female filmmaker Narges Abyar.
The movie premiered at Irans 2014 Fajr International Film Festival and garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences.
Track 143 is a screen adaptation of Abyars novel,The Third Eye,which tells thestory of a woman during Irans sacred defense.
The film has been presented at a number of international festivals andhas wonseveral awards.
Iranian film Im Not Angry directed by Reza Dormishian was also awarded the APSA Academy NETPAC Development Prize.
Iranian cinematic productions were nominated for awards in five categories at this year's APSA.
Melbourne, directed by Nima Javidi, was nominated for the best screenplay award.
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad was also one of the nominees for the best director at this year's festival for her celebrated drama The Tales.
Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi presided over the six-member jury panel of this year's APSA.
He is a three-time APSA winner including Best Screenplay and the Jury Grand Prize for About Elly in 2009, as well as Best Film for A Separation in 2011.
Some 36 screen productions from 21 regional countries competed in this years festival.
The 2014APSA was held in Brisbane's historic City Hall on December 11.