Born in 1964 in Akré, Iraq, Hiner Saleem first gained international attention when his undercover footage of the living conditions of Iraqi Kurds was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1992. Since Saleem’s debut feature, Kebab Connection (1998), he has written and directed several films including Beyond our Dreams (1999) and Vodka Lemon (2003), which was awarded Best Film at the Venice Film Festival in 2005. His feature film, Kilomètre Zéro (2004), was part of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival and was followed in 2007 by the release of Dol ou la Vallée des Tambours (Beneath the Rooftops of Paris) (2007) and If You Die, I’ll Kill You (2011). My Sweet Pepper Land has won the special Jury Award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Best Film at the Chicago Film Festival and Best Film at the Duhok Film Festival in Kurdistan.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
