2011 MPA APSA Academy Film Fund Recipient

Shawkat Amin Korki was inducted into the Academy in 2007 for Crossing the Dust, for which he received an Achievement in Directing nomination in 2007. He received a development grant for his project Memories on Stone, which went on to win the APSA UNESCO Award in 2014.

“This is a bold and lively project offering an insight into the challenges of making films in Kurdistan, and through that to the challenges of everyday life in an area and in a culture of which the West is essentially unaware.  While the story is revealing and informative, the characters should emerge strongly and engage international audiences emotionally.” – Andrew Pike, Selection Panellist

Memories on Stone (logline):
In post-Saddam Iraq, childhood friends Huseyin and Alan are about to produce the first movie made in free Kurdistan. Little do they know they are embarking on the odyssey of their lives…

Maryam Ebrahimi was inducted into the APSA Academy in 2012 for winning the APSA for Best Documentary Feature Film for I Was Worth 50 Sheep.  She received a development grant for the documentary No Burqas Behind Bars, which won an International Emmy in 2014.

“This documentary project has excellent credentials, and promises to be an important and challenging film. While the subject may be politically sensitive, the project seems achievable and the stories told within the film should communicate strongly to international audiences.” – Andrew Pike, Selection Panellist

Burqas Behind Bars (logline):
35 women. 34 children. 4 cells. Shot entirely inside an Afghan women’s prison, documentary feature No Burqas Behind Bars exposes how “moral crimes” continue to be used to control women in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Locked away from society, the women want their stories told. They want a voice.

Pryas Gupta was inducted into the Academy in 2008. His film The Prisoner won the Jury Grand Prize that year. He was a member of the APSA International Jury in 2009. He received a development grant for his project The Cricket Tree. 

“This is a delightful project that could hold strong audience appeal not only in India but in any country where cricket is played and possibly further afield. The treatment is well crafted and the track record of the filmmaker should ensure a very worthwhile outcome.” – Andrew Pike, Selection Panellist

The Cricket Tree (logline):
A modern day fable set in India, children’s feature The Cricket Tree is about Suman, a talented young cricketer who journeys from being a poor village farmer to a successful cricketer through his tenacity, loving nature and determination and also a strange carved bat made for him by his dying father from the wood of an ancient tree in the village.

Payman Maadi was nominated in the 2011 APSAs for Best Performance by an Actor for A Separation, which was the first film to be completed with funding from the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund. A Separation also won Best Feature Film at the fifth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Maadi received a development grant for his feature film project Bomb: A Love Story, which had its World Premiere at the Fajr International Film Festival, 2017.

“This is a very strong project with a wealth of characters and incident. It also promises a strong element of documentary realism at the heart of its drama. The talent involved is substantial and the in the wake of A Separation, it has considerable potential to reach a wide international audience.” – Andrew Pike, Selection Panellist

Bomb: A Love Story (logline):
A love story set during the years of the Tehran rocket attacks.