Category: Best Director ARFF Amsterdam 2023

Original Film Title: Faces of war

Director’s Name: Anton Zharov

Writer’s Name: Anton Zharov

Producer: Ivan Mikhnevich

Country of Origin: Cyprus

Country of Filming: Ukraine

Language: English, Russian, Ukrainian

Runtime: 47 minutes 23 seconds

Film Description:

The main focus for this film is to fully depict how the lives and fates of Ukrainian people are destroyed by the various aspects of the war. 
In our film we strive to provide an accurate unfiltered insight on the full spectrum of effects caused by the war.

On the night of February 23-24, the Russian army crossed the borders of Ukraine and launched a full-scale invasion. 
Seeing the suffering of people, volunteers from all over the world went to Ukraine from neighbouring countries to provide all possible assistance to refugees. 
Many volunteers who are not members of official organizations began to evacuate people out of dangerous regions using their personal vehicles. 
Some of them left their usual life and work to help those who need it most now. 
From the first days of the war, civilian doctors and paramedics from different countries began to send medical missions to front-line cities to provide medical care to the local population. 
These missions continue their work to this day.

Original Film Title: MEMORY

Director’s Name: Tina-Maria Feyrer

Writer’s Name: Tina-Maria Feyrer

Producer: Herrmauser – artist collective

Country of Origin: Austria

Country of Filming: Austria

Language: German

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Film Description:

The magical Nordwald in the Waldviertel is a place where mysterious things happen: people hear voices, see strange things or disappear without a trace. According to ancient folklore, you can meet the devil in this forest at night. This is where four young filmmakers have found themselves. They made it into the final round of the casting show, “Director’s Cut” and have moved into their new quarters on the edge of this mystical forest. After a short time, they notice that the live cameras installed all over the house, reflect events differently than they experience them. As they embark together on an excursion to an occult stronghold in the forest, they increasingly start to doubt their own perception. They do not yet know that this is just the beginning of a diabolical plan…

Original Film Titlel: Longing for the Soul; A Quest for Rumi

Director’s Name: Aryana Farshad

Writer’s Name: Aryana Farshad

Producer: Aryana Farshad

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Afghanistan, Turkey, United States

Language: English, Persian

Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes

Film Description:

Longing for the Soul, A Quest for Rumi, a full-length documentary film, will take the viewers on a mesmerizing journey through the lands of ancient Persia, to modern days Afghanistan, Turkey and United States, to tell the story of a mystic man, Molana Jalal-El-Din Rumi, who’s message of love and peace has been passed on for centuries.

Rumi, departed from the world in 1273, late in the day of December 17. To his followers, this date is known as Sheb-Urs or the Wedding Night. At his funeral, people of all religions gather to celebrate his passing to the realm of god. Rumi reveals mysteries of the universe, in language of poetry and mysticism unfolding in the realm of science in the 21st Century?

Original Film Titlel: The Colour of the Horse

Director’s Name: Kristina Schippling

Writer’s Name: Kristina Schippling

Producer: Kristina Schippling

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 6 minutes 2 seconds

Film Description:

The beginning of a love affair between two young adults is told poetically and sensitively, the first confiding in each other and the first approaches being made. Their inner worlds, their closeness 
to each other, their fears.

Original Film Titlel: IYAL

Director’s Name: Girija Raghuram

Writer’s Name: Girija Raghuram

Producer: Suja Raghuram Manoj

Country of Origin: India

Country of Filming: India

Language: Tamil

Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

Busy employed parents Christopher and Gayathri are engrossed in their work and moving their relationship towards separation. Meanwhile, as their relationship faces trouble, their child, Iyal, is left alone with the hired nanny, Chella, and a deaf grandfather. Chella comes from a poor background and has a drunkard husband. Due to both families’ troubled married lives, little Iyal succumbs to a horrible crime. The question of who wins justice and who loses it becomes a serious concern.”

Original Film Titlel: Iakttagen (Watched)

Director’s Name: John F. Lindquist

Writer’s Name: John F. Lindquist

Producer: John F. Lindquist

Country of Origin: Sweden

Country of Filming: Sweden

Language: Swedish

Runtime: 14 minutes 59 seconds

Film Description:

One night Jocke recives a phonecall from an unknown woman. This triggers a series of events that takes both brothers into an unsafe night.