Category: Audience Awards ARFF 2023 Amsterdam

Original Film Title: WITCH, REBORN

Director’s Name: Maria Shevtsova

Writer’s Name: Maria Shevtsova

Producer: Maria Shevtsova

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 19 minutes

Film Description:

Documentary short film following US singer Sabrina Kennedy as she finds herself at the Samhain celebrations in Glastonbury and dives into the hidden world of modern-day paganism in the UK. 

US-born and London-based singer Sabrina Kennedy arrives in Glastonbury on the eve of Samhain: the Celtic precursor to modern-day Halloween. Following Sabrina through the UK’s unofficial spiritual capital, known to most as just the home of the eponymous music festival, WITCH, REBORN begins as a portrait of the singer’s spiritual path and relationship with the town. Through interviews with Sabrina, and captivating snapshots of the two-day festivities, the film dives into – and celebrates – the hidden world of modern-day paganism in the UK, as well as Sabrina’s own journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

Original Film Title: Ave Gradiva

Director’s Name: Yuri Riklis

Writer’s Name: Yuri Riklis

Producer: Bella Dora Cinecreations Riklis

Country of Origin: Israel

Country of Filming: Israel

Language: Hebrew

Runtime: 18 minutes

Film Description:

When a lonely man, a fashion photographer, meets the sweetheart of his youth, from whom he separated under the pressure of his Oedipal mother, he is attacked by fragments of past memories and does everything he can to realize the love of his life, doubt in the dream – doubt in reality, doubt in the present – doubt in the past, under the influence of a literary and surrealistic character Gradiva.

Ave Gradiva tries to challenge the conventional perception of a short film as something limited in terms of time, place, and plot, and instead – to create a 19 min’ show that embraces different countries and civilizations, lasts for thousands of years, and contains within it several kinds of LOVE – human phenomena which take place on the border between Dream and Reality.

Original Film Title: Skills For Trades

Director’s Name: Shane Williams

Writer’s Name: Shane Williams

Producer: Shane Williams

Country of Origin: Australia

Country of Filming: Australia

Language: English

Runtime: 2 minutes 52 seconds

Film Description:

Videographer/photographer, Shane Williams teams up with world-class Australian pastry chef/chocolatier Dean Gibson and Jon Pryer, an Australian industrial designer that designed the Sulo/Wheelie bin to start a sweet collaborative team to create the world’s first chocolate sculptures that move. The pair use this collaboration to pass on skills and knowledge not only to students but to fellow tradespeople to help raise the profile of trades and show the importance of skills for trades for the future of Australia.

Original Film Title: 余痕

Director’s Name: Ziyi Wang

Writer’s Name: Ziyi Wang

Producer: Jie Zhou

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 17 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

When CHEN Yu comes back to the old house with his daughter, a broken pair of ice skates reminds him of the memory about his father.

Original Film Title: Love’s Got Me Blind

Director’s Name: Cecilia Saraiva

Writer’s Name: Cecilia Saraiva

Producer: Cecilia Saraiva, Taytum Blake

Country of Origin: Brazil

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 17 minutes 40 seconds

Film Description:

Love’s Got Me Blind is an experimental and musical short film about a female artist finding in sisterhood, art and spirituality the strength to get out of an abusive relationship.

Original Film Title: WE HUNT GIANTS

Director’s Name: Titus Paar

Writer’s Name: Titus Paar

Producer: Titus Paar, Andreas Feix

Country of Origin: Sweden

Country of Filming: Sweden

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes

Film Description:

In a world where cavemen and dinosaurs roam. The village leaders need to hunt a rogue T-Rex that has made its way into their peaceful valley to save their people.