Winner, Best Documentary Feature Film, 2016
The third film of Mehrdad Oskouei’s trilogy exploring delinquency and incarceration, Starless Dreams focuses on the young girls in a juvenile correctional and rehabilitation centre on the fringes of Tehran. All under 18 years old, their crimes range from drug dealing and drug trafficking to pick-pocketing and manslaughter. Starless Dreams offers a piercing look into the circumstances of mistreatment and disadvantage which lead to their delinquency and eventual imprisonment, punctuated by moments of sublime revelation as the girls bond. The first film to be made inside an Iranian girls’ prison, the film gives a voice to those unable to raise their own.
APSA Winner Clip
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.
