Films from Iran, the Russian Federation, Hong Kong, Korea and Turkey are vying for the best feature film award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in November, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Turkish first time writer-director Emin Alper’s Beyond the Hill, winner of the Caligari prize at the Berlinale in 2012, leads the pack with nominations in three categories including best feature, best Screenplay and best actor (Tamer Levent).

The four other films nominated for best feature include Shanghai Golden Goblet winner Bear (Khers, Iran), epic historical drama, The Horde (Orda , Russian Federation), Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng, Republic of Korea) and Wu Xia (Hong Kong (PRC)).

They each received an additional nomination: Khosro Masoumi was nominated for achievement in directing for Iran’s Bear; The Horde and Wu Xia were both nominated for achievement in cinematography and Choi Min-sik in Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time joined Tamer Levant in the best actor category.

Writer/directors who have received nominations for both achievement in directing and best screenplay are Cheng Er for Lethal Hostage (People’s Republic of China), and Reis Çelik for Night of Silence ( Lal gece, Turkey).

Also receiving a nomination for achievement in directing was Brillante Ma. Mendoza for Thy Womb (Sinapupunan, Philippines), with lead actress Nora Aunor nominated for best actress for her role.

APSA Academy member Anurag Kashyap was nominated for achievement in directing for Indian epic Gangs of Wasseypur. Lead actor in the film, Manoj Bajpayee, is nominated for best actor.

Bol (Pakistan) received two nominations – best screenplay for Shoaib Mansoor and best actress for Humaima Malick.

The fifth nominee in the best screenplay category is Chris Martinez for The Woman in the Septic Tank (Ang Babae sa Septic Tan, Philippines).

Bahman Ghobadi’s Rhino Season, (Fasle Kargadan, Iraqi-Kurdistan, Turkey) received a nomination for achievement in cinematography for Touraj Aslani, as did Charin Pengpanich for Bunohan; Return to Murder, (Malaysia), Malaysia’s official film submission to the 85th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category, and Chin Ting-Chang for Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, (Taiwan).

Other nominees in the best actor category are Lior Ashkenazi for Oscar-nominated feature Footnote (Hearat shulayim, Israel) and Wu Tianming, for Full Circle (People’s Republic of China).