Category: Globe Award ARFF 2023 Amsterdam

Original Film Title: Real Fur

Director’s Name: Taimoor Choudhry

Writer’s Name: Gillian Darling-Kovanic

Producer: Sabrina (Solara) Dang, Jason Chau, Kelly A. Morris, Taimoor Choudhry

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes

Film Description:

Real Fur is an eye-opening undercover investigation about the true cost of the fur farming industry in Canada. It follows the journey of director Taimoor Choudhry as he transforms from being an uninformed consumer to a passionate activist through interviews with animal rights leaders, changemakers, lawyers, politicians, and celebrities in an effort to make real change.

Original Film Title: 大地之子

Director’s Name: Ning Tong Wang

Producer: Ning Tong Wang

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 1 hour

Film Description:

There has never been a hospice like this for children in China before. At Daisy House, children with terminal cancer or blood conditions get to stay with their families. They receive palliative care from medical personnel, social workers and volunteers, who support and comfort them and their families right the way through.

How should parents and families – indeed, how should each of us face up to these young lives nearing their ends? What are we really talking about when we discuss ‘death’? What ethical considerations apply to a filmmaker who is also part of the support team? There are no easy answers. 

Original Film Title: Cry, My beloved Country

Director’s Name: Corrine Sandler

Writer’s Name: Corrine Sandler

Producer: Corrine Sandler

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: South Africa

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes

Film Description:

How South Africa went from a Cry for Freedom to CRY, MY BELOVED COUNTRY. An inconceivable story told in a feature length documentary about a South African Emigrant, Corrine who grew up in the Apartheid Regime in the 1970’s. Corrine returns to her birth country 30 years later with her Canadian children. Together they embark on an emotional journey back to her homeland. Their journey takes them into the heart of past and present-day conflicts in a country ravaged by corruption. 
Corrines quest to show her children her beloved country is shattered. She digs deep to reveal the truth behind the devastation of South Africa.

Original Film Title: The Horizon Behind Me

Director’s Name: Roberto Pettini, David Stalley

Writer’s Name: Roberto Pettini

Producer: Roberto Pettini, David Stalley

Country of Origin: Australia

Country of Filming: India, Italy, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Vanuatu

Language: English

Runtime: 2 hours 47 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

When he was nineteen(1973), Roberto decided to go in search of people living a traditional way of life. 

Naïve and idealistic, he embarked on what would eventually be a ten-year journey and which, while giving him the opportunity to live within remote and varied traditional societies, would at the same time allow him to travel long distances in an internal journey of self-discovery.

Some forty years later, Roberto, prompted by a friend’s son and utilising his original photographs, recorded sound and film footage, reflects on this youthful adventure, the life lessons he learned and the diversity of cultures which in the meantime have radically changed.

Original Film Title: Cutting the Line

Director’s Name: William Bendix

Writer’s Name: William Bendix

Producer: Julie Andersen

Country of Origin: Namibia

Country of Filming: Namibia

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes 54 seconds

Film Description:

Cutting the Line follows a husband and wife team, Naude and Katja Dreyer, as they embark on a mission to rescue entangled seals along their home along the Namibian coastline and raise urgent awareness about ocean plastic pollution. What begins as a few spur-of-the-moment rescues quickly evolves into an environmental organization that finds itself pitted against this mounting global crisis. Cutting the Line powerfully reveals the disconnect between the global fishing industry practices and local communities actively working to mitigate its detrimental impact. The film serves as an inspirational clarion call to advocate for global policies to support communities actively fighting to end the harm caused by plastic pollution.

Original Film Title: ROCCO UP

Director’s Name: John Madere

Writer’s Name: Ruth Mamaril

Producer: Kevin McCann, Donald Intonato

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 22 minutes 26 seconds

Film Description:

Rocco is an autistic boy who has always felt at home in the ocean. He lives in Montauk with his parents and younger sister. Ben, Rocco’s father, who has always dreamt of having a surfing son, sets out to teach Rocco, who is non-verbal, to surf. Sara, Rocco’s mother, takes the lead on his cognitive and language development. Challenges persist, but triumphs abound. Both parents find that Rocco is teaching them powerful ways to be present. Over the years, Rocco develops confidence, grace, and remarkable balance in the water. His elation as he stands up and moves to the front of his board is clear to everyone. The beachgoers watch, spontaneously cheer “Rocco up!” and reflect on his focus, nimbleness, and joy when surfing with his father. Unscripted interviews are testimonials to boundless family love, the stoke of community support, and the neuroscience behind our enchantment with water.

Original Film Title: SONJA

Director’s Name: Sanela Prašović – Gadžo

Writer’s Name: Arijana Saračević – Helać

Producer: Nehrudin Gadžo

Country of Origin: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Country of Filming: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language: Bosnian

Runtime: 1 hour

Film Description:

In the documentary film “Sonja”, we witness the struggle of one man to survive in the camp. Prisoner Haris Hastor describes the days spent in captivity, torture, mistreatment, facing death, struggle, fear, powerlessness and finally escape. 
Haris Hastor will tell the story of the struggle for bare life, about hopes and fears, and about the life he lives today. 
During the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the siege of Sarajevo, Serbian paramilitary forces as well as military formations of the RS Army committed numerous crimes against the civilian population. 
Haris Hastor was 21 years old when he was captured and taken to the Vogošća camp. The days of torture he spent in the camp still goes trough his mind. This is documentary about his survival. 
In the „Sonja“ and the „Bunker“ camp, many citizens of Vogošća were detained, women were raped and some were executed after being raped, and the detained men were tortured, mistreated, raped and many never got to experience freedom. 

Original Film Title: The HOME

Director’s Name: Haeri Jeon

Writer’s Name: Haeri Jeon

Producer: Ji Hyun Park

Country of Origin: Korea, Republic of

Country of Filming: Korea, Republic of

Language: English

Runtime: 16 minutes 34 seconds

Film Description:

This is the interview with the Lulendo family. 
Lulendo, Bobette, Rhema, Rhode, Shilo, and Grace flew to the Republic of Korea from Angola on December 28, 2018. But until October 11, 2019, they had to stay at Incheon Airport for 288 days.

The Lourendo family, who lived in Congo, speaks French as their first language. However, the interview was conducted in English. As they could not proceed with the interview in their native language, they used drawings to explain further. Each member of the family drew their own “HOME” and told them about the ideal house.

Interviews with the Lulendo family deeply resonated with the “wishes of ordinary people who want to survive safely.” This is a documentary about a “HOME” which everyone from children to adults sympathizes with.

It may be a short story for viewers. But it’s an unforgettable story for them.

Original Film Title: La merveilleuse douleur du Gênet

Director’s Name: Olivia Calcaterra

Writer’s Name: Olivia Calcaterra

Producer: Nicola Genni

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Country of Filming: Spain

Language: Italian, Spanish

Runtime: 22 minutes

Film Description:

Gone in search of stray and abandoned Spanish greyhounds in Almeria, I decided to deal with the theme of abandonment through a documentary focusing on the introspection of emotions linked to this trauma. Inspired by Leopardi’s poem about resilience, I tried to bring together human and canine feelings in the experience of being abandoned by someone. The urge to make a documentary came after my first documentary last year. I wanted to try to give the project an aesthetic sense linked to fiction, to have two contrasting worlds in the film. The film is accompanied by a narrative voice, not a didactic one, in order to unite the reportage side with the photogenic and more experimental part.

Original Film Title: The Ocean’s Stewards

Director’s Name: Sanne Molenaar

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 27 minutes 47 seconds

Film Description:

The Ocean’s Stewards is an ode to the ocean. It examines the love of a group of people living on Hawaii, surfers and divers alike, who call the ocean their home and aim to protect it. The movie calls us to re-examine our connections with nature. Moreover, the movie takes us underwater to experience what it is like being submerged, coming face to face to all kinds of underwater animals. An immersive nature-filled experience guided by ocean lovers. The film The Ocean’s Stewards was created as a thesis project for the graduate studies in visual anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.