Category: AUDIENCE AWARDS – 2024 ARFF BERLIN

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Strange Games

Director’s Name: J. Hal Cordova

Writer’s Name: J. Hal Cordova

Producer: Geoffrey Bennett Ulrich, Jon Kinney

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 16 minutes 14 seconds

Film Description:

A documentary crew investigates the disappearance of two filmmakers by interviewing those who worked with them. Based on true events. Real clues are hidden in the film making the movie itself a “stange game.”

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: OH MAYBE NOT TONIGHT

Director’s Name: Kim Fino

Writer’s Name: Kim Fino

Producer: Kim Fino

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming : Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 17 minutes 23 seconds

Film Description:

Ennie is traveling overnight by bus. At dawn, she gets off at the wrong station and ends up roaming the streets of an unidentified town. On her wanderings, she catches the insistent gaze of a young man her age, seeking company. She decides to talk to him.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Garden of Eden

Director’s Name: Mona Schmauß

Writer’s Name: Mona Schmauß

Producer: Anastasia Jasmin Habibi

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming : Germany

Language: English

Runtime: 3 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

The song “Garden of Eden” is visually realized through metaphors from the Old Testament, employing a tropical garden, a snake, an apple, and a church. The premise is “Stay true to yourself.” The artist and protagonist find themselves torn between societal norms and their own identity. In this dilemma, they must choose between the apple and the snake. However, the snake here represents not the devil, but rather the path one can and should take on their own. Initially, the artist chooses the apple.

The artist finds themselves in what seems like paradise, visually represented by a tropical setting. However, an industrial street, symbolizing reality, hints that this paradise is merely a facade. The individuals in paradise represent our society. Society consists of sinners who believe they are doing what is right but in reality, succumb to pressure and norms. This is illustrated through the act of eating apples. The protagonist himself wants to belong, but fails in the attempt. Similarly, he feels the urge to bite into the apple rather than eat it with a knife and fork like the others.

By gaining self-confidence and remaining true to himself, the protagonist bites into the apple at the end of the video. In a world where everyone is alike, he stands out to fulfill his own potential.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Mourning

Director’s Name: Michael Ross Catania

Writer’s Name: Michael Ross Catania

Producer: Michael Ross Catania

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 6 minutes 41 seconds

Film Description:

Welcome to “The Mirror,” a thought-provoking exploration of how our energy is reflected back at us. As Einstein wisely noted, creativity trumps intelligence as it allows us to see beyond the surface and discover the true nature of existence. This film challenges us to be mindful of the energy we put out , as it may shape our reality and ultimately ourselves. Join us on a journey of self-discovery and reflection!

This content is a fictional story with Actors and models. This story is more of a thought experiment in the Science Fiction Genre.. Any person depicted in the content is an Actor or model. All Content is Properly Licensed.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Mourning

Director’s Name: Jackie Walsh

Writer’s Name: Jackie Walsh

Producer: Jackie Walsh, Cathal O’Friel

Country of Origin: Ireland

Country of Filming : Ireland

Language: English

Runtime: 6 minutes 39 seconds

Film Description:

A YOUNG WOMAN’S SEARCH FOR HER MISSING DOG LEADS TO A SHOCKING DISCOVERY

a story about violence against women

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: TALKING TO MOON AND BAEK

Director’s Name: Francheska Dyne Hong

Writer’s Name: Francheska Dyne Hong

Producer: Francheska Dyne Hong, Haneul Nancy Lee

Country of Origin: Korea, Republic of

Country of Filming : Korea, Republic of

Language: Korean

Runtime: 38 minutes

Film Description:

“Only four calls,” He says. “Starts at 11:11 ending exactly at midnight. Just 49 minutes. No more, no less.” And they say, be very careful what you wish for.

Once upon a time, there lived an orphaned girl named Moon Su-Bin in the pulsating heart of Seoul city. At first glance, she seems like a fine young lady – that is, until you discover her gadgets and costumes. What on earth are those for?

She roleplays for 3D clients. Now, before your mind wanders into places we shouldn’t, her clients are Daily, Decent, and emotionally Desperate, grasping for a “lifeline” through her landline. Yet, beneath her empathetic façade for fast cash, she too has desperately latched onto her fairytale dream of escaping to Denmark, her Copen-“heaven” (which she proudly mispronounces) – the “happily-ever-after”.

One exhaustive day, her wish finally seems to come true. Her knight in shining armor in a form of huge cash from a destined-to-die young man with terminal cancer who desires to rehearse unsaid goodbyes to his lover as the end nears.

Blurring the lines between fiction and reality, even life and death, so begins the most unlikely union of the two: the emotionally impaired and the emotionally exhausted, talking talk to Moon and Baek, through the four phone calls.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: MANAGE THIS!

Director’s Name: Michael Monks, Tara OReilly

Writer’s Name: Michael Monks, Richard Waterhouse, Tara OReilly

Producer: Tara Arielle OReilly, Mary Scripps

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 19 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

Mia Foreman has held sway in Vermont for many decades discovering and managing such bands as Phish and Grace Potter, she has finally hit a wall on all levels. Her managing career has dwindled to two, unstable clients as she struggles to care for her father’s failing health. Ever hopeful, and focused on making her career work, Mia searches for the next Musical Star among a heap of eccentric artists in a valiant effort to secure her life, business and status as an ace of a music manager.