Category: Best Experimental ARFF 2023 Amsterdam

Original Film Title: l’Espill

Director’s Name: Len Murusalu

Writer’s Name: Len Murusalu

Producer: Len Murusalu, Tauno Novek

Country of Origin: Estonia

Country of Filming: Estonia, Latvia

Runtime: 19 minutes 36 seconds

Film Description:

A journey through the past and future myths of the dormant Livonian language.

World War II, mass deportations to Siberia and marginalisation during the Russian occupation caused the extinction of the language of the indigenous people of Livonia. Narrated in Livonian and inspired by a folk song and Finnic mythology, the story seeks hope in the perishing time and memories forgotten.

A split-screen or a 2-channel artists’ film, with English subtitles. The film is part of the expanded cinema project Time Quartet, produced by ChronoLens.

Original Film Title: 砂に染む波

Director’s Name: Sakurako Shibata

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: Danish

Runtime: 14 minutes 40 seconds

Film Description:

The process by which body and space blend together.

Original Film Title: l’Espill

Director’s Name: Mario Pons Múria

Writer’s Name: Mario Pons Múria

Producer: Mario Pons Múria

Country of Origin: Spain

Country of Filming: France, Spain

Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes

Film Description:

Surrounded by the atmosphere of the children of Spanish republican emigration, Hilaire is part of the generation of young people in the working-class neighborhoods of Narbonne in the 1960 … to the cry of “Fucking Spanish”! Sixty years after leaving, Hilaire returns to his hometown to discover the Spain of Catalan political prisoners and exiles, an inner journey back to the Ebro Delta, to the repressive legacy of the postwar period, but also to his first great love of youth. 

Original Film Title: Roots out

Director’s Name: Ivan Knyazev

Writer’s Name: Ivan Knyazev

Producer: Ekaterina Vitneva

Country of Origin: Russian Federation

Country of Filming: Russian Federation

Runtime: 2 minutes 56 seconds

Film Description:

don’t play with no chicken 
she scares me 
have a dog in the forest 
i can puff like an owl 
can you see me? 
they run away 
shouts a me 
no fun 
it creaks at night 
we hide 
bark tastes like bugs 
they point fingers at 
sky yesterday 
when you eat it 
soft like me 
are we scary? 
we are scary today

Original Film Title: FRONT DOOR

Director’s Name: Elena Georgie

Writer’s Name: Elena Georgie

Producer: Elena Georgie

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: India

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes

Film Description:

A contemporary dance film in which strangers with diverse backgrounds open a discussion of cultural and political differences and similarities through dance as the rain washes away the barriers between them. The film explores the meaning of “safe home” in modern society.

Original Film Title: Endurance

Director’s Name: Imre van Opstal

Writer’s Name: Imre van Opstal

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: Israel

Runtime: 11 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

‘Whether it’s running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or simply making it through a difficult day, endurance is what enables people to persist and succeed. Without it, people would give up at the first sign of difficulty.

Endurance is a film about the power of perseverance and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of challenging circumstances. 
It examines the journey of life itself, the physical and emotional aspects of endurance, exploring the ups and downs, the triumphs and failures, and the moments of joy and sorrow that define the human experience. A testament to the idea that with hard work, determination, and the inherent drive to keep going despite adversity, anything is possible.

Through the role of community and the support of others, this film aims to evoke a sense of wonder, hope, and renewal, encouraging audiences to embrace life’s journey with courage and determination.’

Original Film Title: Untitled Days

Director’s Name: Beatrix Guedes

Writer’s Name: Beatrix Guedes

Producer: Beatrix Guedes, Leonardo Musa, Cecilia Salguero

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Brazil

Language: English

Runtime: 30 minutes

Film Description:

AN EYE-HEADED FRUSTRATED POET FALLS IN LOVE WITH A BLIND CABARET SINGER WHILE STRUGGLING WITH HIS ADDICTION TO COLLYRIUM DELIRIUM AND HIS ABSOLUTE INCOMPETENCE TO COME UP WITH A DECENT RHYME.

Rupert is a failed poet living a pathetic solitary life. He works in a filthy library, and spends most of his days reading books he wish he had written. He is lost amidst surrealistic dreams and a blind obsession for his muse Rosetta , the cabaret singer.

“Rupert” is an anti-genre , surrealistic and heavy loaded criticism of violence against women infused in a story of blind love narrated by an eye-headed man.

Original Film Title: Untitled Days

Director’s Name: Eva Rini May Cragg

Writer’s Name: Eva Rini May Cragg

Producer: Eva Rini May Cragg

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: No Dialogue

Runtime: 8 minutes

Film Description:

LOGLINE 
A woman doesn’t quite want to come into frame. On the verge of invisibility she tiptoes towards herself.

SYNOPSIS 
A pigeon coos through drawn curtains as the silhouette of a woman wrapped in her sheets moves with slow breaths. The shadow of flapping wings interrupts a gap of light and someone scurries from frame to leave an empty bed behind. Beyond a cracked door a kettle steams while a figure exercises behind chiselled glass. Large canvases block the windows and she turns the pages of her book, but a fly interrupts.

Original Film Title: Mental Soirée

Director’s Name: Sally Eckhoff

Writer’s Name: Sally Eckhoff

Producer: Sally Eckhoff

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Runtime: 6 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description:

An animated moral lesson from an unlikely source

Original Film Title: Mental Soirée

Director’s Name: Alberto Arellano

Writer’s Name: Alberto Arellano

Producer: Jakub Laskus

Country of Origin: Spain

Country of Filming: Poland

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes 14 seconds

Film Description:

Synopsis 
A Manual for a correct study of Telepathy in 3 steps leads the story trough an evocative universe in which the characters are immerse. 
The mind is like a shipwreck, which always leaves remains on the beach…a story depicted in colors, shapes and symbols. 
Mental Soirée tells the story of two shipwrecked people who meet in an unique soirée.

As a general comment about the film: 
The film is an artefact articulated between two main ideas: 
The first one is based on an experiment- scientific approach of how to get an extrasensory perception in 3 steps, ( in fact we want to really invite the audience to test it by following those steps strictly…) and the second main idea is based on a poetic gaze, suggesting a magnetic universe in which emotions, time, communication and feelings are diluted.