Category: BEST DOCUMENTARY – 2024 ARFF BERLIN

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Salmon Run

Director’s Name: Pieter J Kruit

Writer’s Name: Pieter J Kruit

Producer: Pieter J Kruit

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes 56 seconds

Film Description:

Salmon Run takes a good hard look at the California salmon fishing industry

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: One City, One Architect, One Antoni Gaudi

Director’s Name: John Kiernan

Writer’s Name: John Kiernan

Producer: John Kiernan

Country of Origin: Spain

Country of Filming: Spain

Language: English

Runtime: 10 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description:

This is a short documentary looking into Gaudi’s most historic buildings and their significance to the city of Barcelona.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: In Search of Edgar Allan Poe

Director’s Name: Andrew D. Kaplan

Writer’s Name: Andrew D. Kaplan

Producer: Andrew D. Kaplan

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes 43 seconds

Film Description:

This award-winning documentary explores the triumphant but tragic story of the brilliant poet, master short story writer, and influential critic Edgar Allan Poe. Set in his later years, it recounts how he penned haunting poetry, pioneered science fiction, and perfected the modern horror tale, yet was plagued by alcohol, lost loves, and a penchant for self-destruction. The film sheds new light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding Poe’s death and his enduring influence on later writers.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: RADIO CATERINA – the radio of hope

Director’s Name: David Orlandelli

Writer’s Name: David Orlandelli

Producer: Matteo Mariotti

Country of Origin: Italy

Country of Filming: Italy

Language: Italian

Runtime: 60 minutes

Film Description:

WWII. Isolated in a German prison camp, the Stalag XB of Sandbostel, a group of Italian officers builds a clandestine radio, Radio Caterina. Through the radio they catch wind of the Normandy landing, of the Allied advance and the surrender of the Third Reich.
News from the outside world provides them with hope and strength to resist. Until liberation.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Trapped in 102 feet of water

Director’s Name: Lasse Spang Olsen

Writer’s Name: Lasse Spang Olsen

Producer: Sofie Wanting Hassing

Country of Origin: Denmark

Country of Filming: Denmark, Nigeria, South Africa, United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 18 minutes 7 seconds

Film Description:

A ship’s cook goes down with his ship at 102 feet underwater. Everyone on board is drowning – except him. Stranded in a small pocket of air – in water to his neck, in pitch darkness, deep inside the ship’s wreck – he awaits death, while the crabs begin to eat him, and the oxygen slowly disappears.
Watch the true story of the miraculous rescue – when a diver arrives three days later to remove the drowned sailors from the ship. The newly educated diver Nico accepts the challenge from his team to go down and salvage the corpses – knowing it will give him a lifelong trauma to handle 12 dead men – alone inside the dark wreck.
Against all odds, the diver miraculously finds the ship’s cook alive, having survived for three days under extremely life-threatening conditions, deep below sea level. However, despite thinking that now he’s saved, the cook’s problems just start arising.
With life at stake, the newly trained diver, Nico, must embark on an extremely complicated and life-threatening rescue operation, to get the cook out through the ship’s narrow passages – deep under water.
Told through authentic footage from the divers helmet cameras and with the authentic radio communication, one of today’s most heroic and miraculous underwater dramas takes place – at 102 feet below sea level.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Where the Heart Belongs

Director’s Name: Xiaoran Du

Writer’s Name: Xiaoran Du

Producer: Huixiang Ding

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes 47 seconds

Film Description:

This film documents the life of an elderly man who has been wandering for over 30 years. Beneath his escape from reality and his survival through scavenging lies a deep-seated pain that is difficult to reconcile with his family of origin. He is unable to relinquish his resentment towards his father, yet he deeply misses his relatives, his hometown, and the dog that once accompanied him. As we accompany him on his journey back home and assist him in returning to his roots, the secrets concealed in his heart are gradually uncovered. After a lifetime of wandering, where will his heart ultimately find rest?

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Proposition Amanecer

Director’s Name: Miguel Escoto

Writer’s Name: Miguel Escoto

Producer: Rafael Adan Martinez

Country of Origin: 

Country of Filming:

Language:

Runtime: 53 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

118, Telemly (ex – Algérie Metal: Ma décennie de sang et de son) is the forgotten story of a generation confronted with a musical genre. This generation is the Algerian youth of the nineties, the years of the war against religious fundamentalism. The genre is heavy metal.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: 118, TELEMLY

Director’s Name: bilal beghoura

Writer’s Name: bilal beghoura, karim bengana

Producer: karim bengana

Country of Origin: Algeria

Country of Filming: Algeria

Language: French

Runtime: 53 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

118, Telemly (ex – Algérie Metal: Ma décennie de sang et de son) is the forgotten story of a generation confronted with a musical genre. This generation is the Algerian youth of the nineties, the years of the war against religious fundamentalism. The genre is heavy metal.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Hope in Hutongs

Director’s Name: Xiaoxiao Liu, Tong Deng

Writer’s Name: Xiaoxiao Liu, Tong Deng

Producer: Xiaoxiao Liu

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 50 minutes

Film Description:

In the old urban areas of Beijing, China, with the changes of the times and urban planning, the original appearance has gradually changed – the originally narrow streets are slowly filled with cars, and familiar neighbors have moved outside the city. Hutongs, as the soul and symbol of this ancient city, are also quietly changing.There is a group of young people from various industries, including architects, designers, pastry chefs, musicians, coffee shop owners, painters, craftsmen, and so on. They have gathered together and chosen to be active in the hutongs of old Beijing in a new way, forming a new ecology of hutongs and bringing new hope to the hutongs.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Bad Son

Director’s Name: Ghatfan Ghanoom

Writer’s Name: Wafa Ameli

Producer: Cristobal Diaz de Valdes

Country of Origin: Finland

Country of Filming: Finland, Germany, Greece, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic

Language: Arabic, English

Runtime: 2 hours

Film Description:

The Bad Son intimately chronicles the life story of a Syrian filmmaker who deeply understands the complexities of revolution and resistance within his homeland. Drawing from personal experiences and encounters, he narrates a gripping tale of growing up under a dictatorial regime, navigating the challenges of dissent, and ultimately joining the struggle for freedom and justice.

In the midst of oppression, he and a group of like-minded friends form a theater group, using the arts as a vehicle for change. Together, they bravely confront tyranny through performances that challenge the status quo and inspire others to question authority. However, as the regime tightens its grip, the group’s members are met with tragic fates—some are imprisoned, others forced into exile, and some ultimately losing their lives.

Through the filmmaker’s lens, viewers are offered a unique perspective on the Syrian revolution, exploring the emotional turmoil, sacrifices made, and the resilient spirit of those who refuse to be silenced. The narrative intersects with the journey of a fellow Iranian dissident, adding layers of depth and connection to the overarching theme of resistance against oppressive regimes.

In sharing his own life story, the filmmaker invites audiences to empathize with the plight of those fighting for change while shedding light on the universal struggle for human rights and dignity. This deeply personal documentary serves as both a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a call to action for a world free from tyranny and oppression.