Category: Best Experimental Film ARFF Barcelona 2023

Original Film Title: Joanna’s Kitchen

Director’s Name: Theo Herghelegiu

Writer’s Name: Theo Herghelegiu

Producer: Cosmina Sandor

Country of Origin: Romania

Country of Filming: Romania

Language: Romanian

Runtime: 22 minutes 33 seconds

Film Description:

A young woman presents her weekly culinary podcast – Joanna’s Kitchen; today: Coq au vin.
Nothing unusual, except the fact that she’s pretty tensed, behaving a bit chaotically and confused. After a few minutes, unexpectedly, her phone rings. At the other end, there is someone who corrects her about certain details of the recipe. In a mix of funny reactions, genuine cooking and a mystery underneath the action, Joanna manages to finish her coq au vin in a hectic way, while inserting specific, emphasized words among the cliché utterances of the recipe. The last call she gets takes her away from the camera and we only hear what was actually going on: she was constrained to say all those words during the podcast by somebody who had kidnapped her little boy. Now, as the work is done, she may take her child back. What we eventually understand, is that all those words and formulae that Joanna has mentioned, were encoded messages for some terrorists who planned a bomb attack, that very evening.

Original Film Title: Ripple in the Mirror

Director’s Name: Oren Kaya Dayan

Writer’s Name: Oren Kaya Dayan

Producer: Oren Charter

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 20 minutes

Film Description:

A wild journey through the whimsical struggle of dancing with your inner demon.

Original Film Title: KATANA

Director’s Name: Maarten Groen

Writer’s Name: Cheroney Pelupessy

Producer: ART& DPPLR

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: Netherlands

Runtime: 4 minutes 25 seconds

Film Description:

A short dance film celebrating female empowerment, inspired by Asian culture.

Written, choreographed, and performed by Cheroney Pelupessy, the film Katana represents the reflection of her journey towards standing in her feminine power.

“Katana is a strong, sensual character I created for a show 3 years ago”, Cheroney says. “However, she appeared to be less of a character, and more of an addition of newfound strength to my own identity. The personal process was very much about embracing sensuality and femininity while remaining powerful. This also translated to my style of dance. In addition to my interpretation of Urban Contemporary, the introduction of Katana cultivated a new way of moving which includes floorwork on heels. I believe people are multidimensional, and I made it a point to display that through movement.

Original Film Title: Saint-Désir l’Exil

Director’s Name: Natacha Nisic

Writer’s Name: Natacha Nisic

Producer: Natacha Nisic

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: French

Runtime: 3 minutes 14 seconds

Film Description:

In the heart of Saint-Désir l’Exil there is a swimming pool. In the heart of the pool are the noxious bodies. Next to the pool, my mother lives her last moments under the sun.

Original Film Title: Waves

Director’s Name: Jesus Plaza

Producer: Jaime Dezcallar

Country of Origin: Spain

Country of Filming: Spain

Runtime: 1 minute 35 seconds

Film Description:

An Experimental Dance video about two women in the North of Spain.

Original Film Title: ΤΟ ΚΟΥΤΙ

Director’s Name: Sophia Michael Tsangaridou

Writer’s Name: Sophia Michael Tsangaridou, Elena Nicolaou

Producer: Sophia Michael Tsangaridou

Country of Origin: Cyprus

Country of Filming: Cyprus

Runtime: 15 minutes

Film Description:

The box’ is a short film about the beautiful moments that love can give us, if we dare to fight against our Monster-our insecurities and fears- and finally trust and share ourselves with someone who has the same feelings and beliefs. The movie aims to awake the hope for pure love and trustful meaningful relationships to our younger generation who seems to be lost and drugged into a social media and virtual reality.

Original Film Title: Un filo più breve

Director’s Name: Marco Cucurnia

Writer’s Name: Marco Cucurnia

Producer: Marco Cucurnia

Country of Origin: Italy

Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes

Film Description:

To a director who wants to make a love film he offers to make a pornographic film, he accepts and … manages to transform the pornographic film into a love film.

Original Film Title: Embrace (subtitle version)

Director’s Name: Christine Vandemoortele

Writer’s Name: Christine Vandemoortele

Producer: Christine Vandemoortele

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: Argentina, Chile

Language: English

Runtime: 19 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

A thought-provoking reflection of what it means to have goals and direction in life and whether there are such things as bad or good decisions.

Original Film Title: Creatura

Director’s Name: Ford Mckeown Larose, Phethsari Pathammavong

Writer’s Name: Ford Mckeown Larose

Producer: Ford Mckeown Larose, Forward Movements

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Runtime: 12 minutes 55 seconds

Film Description:

If the world were to recreate itself in an empty space, how would new forms of life appropriate this environment? How would they evolve? Through lights and movements, Creatura explores the concept of genesis and evolution in a post-apocalyptic universe.

Original Film Title: DÉVORE

Director’s Name: Corentin Schieb, Mathias Averty

Writer’s Name: Corentin Schieb, Mathias Averty

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: French

Runtime: 6 minutes 43 seconds

Film Description:

Facing the Tv, alone, a man is watching over and over several DV tapes he used to make. Memories of a woman he deeply loved seem to live again on the moving screen. Haunted by regrets, he looses himself in a devouring romance…