Category: BEST ACTRESS & ACTORS AWARD – 2025 ARFF AMSTERDAM

(Winner)

Original Film Title: Yukiko

Director’s Name: Henric Olsson

Writer’s Name: Henric Olsson

Producer: Mikael Larsson

Country of Origin: United States, Sweden

Country of Filming : United States, Sweden

Language: English, Japanese

Runtime: 19 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

Yukiko is hiding in America with her paralyzed husband Dakuto after the brutal murder of their daughter.

Yukiko’s fragile exile is shattered when their former yakuza boss tracks them down. His offer is cruel and clear: eliminate Red Snake — a violent, unhinged ex-ally also hiding in America — and perhaps reclaim a fragment of their old lives.

But with Dakuto, once a feared hitman, now confined to a wheelchair, it falls to Yukiko — a woman who has never killed before — to carry out the impossible. Thrust into a desperate, life-or-death mission, she must navigate a ruthless criminal underworld, following brutal survival rules: hide in plain sight, feign weakness, and strike without mercy.

As Yukiko climbs a brutal ladder of villains, what begins as a quest for revenge transforms into something far deeper — an awakening of buried strength, a reckoning with grief, and the unbearable price of love. Framed by haunting VHS tapes that reveal themselves as glimpses of the afterlife, Yukiko builds to a shattering climax where sacrifice becomes reunion, and peace is found beyond violence.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: The Red Mask

Director’s Name: Ritesh Gupta

Writer’s Name: Samantha Gurash, Patrick Robert Young

Producer: Atit Shah, Aimee Schoof, Isen Robbins

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes

Film Description:

When outspoken queer screenwriter ALLINA GREEN (Helena Howard) is chosen to pen the final installment of the legendary slasher franchise THE RED MASK, anger, outrage, and online death threats from die-hard fans causes a rift in her relationship with reticent fiancé DEETZ (Inanna Sarkis). Desperate for a creative breakthrough, the pair escape to a secluded Airbnb, where Allina concocts a DANGEROUS GAME for the two to play to unlock her writer’s block. But when two uninvited houseguests crash the scene, (Kelli Garner and Jake Abel) the weekend turns dark and a twisted game devolves into a duel to the death.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Pool of Light

Director’s Name: Derek Groulx

Writer’s Name: Derek Groulx

Producer: Prudence Wangu

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming : Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 11 minutes 47 seconds

Film Description:

Pool of Light is the story of an actor who finds reward in serial
dating. Alfred and his roommates are on a double date. When his roommates leave the room, Alfred launches into a well rehearsed but disturbing monologue. His date’s increasing discomfort culminates in her less than graceful departure.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Forgiving Retribution

Director’s Name: Curt Samlaska

Writer’s Name: Curt Samlaska

Producer: Curt Samlaska

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 22 minutes 55 seconds

Film Description:

Opening scene (Act 1): It is dark and there is heavy breathing. POV injured passenger hears muffled voice: “I got you.” The injured man’s vision clears, focusing on a 40-year-old man…”I got you. I’m Dr. Brona. I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.” Arthur (45-year-old black male) wakes from his nightmare, startling his wife. “Same dream,” she asks. “It’s not a dream, it happened,” he says.

(Act 2) Dr. Brona is now 65-years old and is in a dermatology clinic. He is informed that he has an aggressive melanoma. He is haunted by the ghost of a teenager that died of pericarditis and myocarditis. He blames himself for missing the diagnosis. The teenager appears frequently, staring at him with a blank, accusing gaze. He denies further evaluation and treatment, believing that his misfortunes are retribution.

(Act 3) Arthur has been looking for Dr. Brona for many years, having only his last name to go on. It was a difficult charge. He shows up at Dr. Brona’s house and realizes that he has finally found the man who saved his life. Unknowingly, it is now up to Arthur to save Dr. Brona.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Good Guy

Director’s Name: Kamie Lloyd

Writer’s Name: Kamie Lloyd, Molly Gross

Producer: Suraya Ali, Molly Gross

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

The literal boy next door starts up a relationship with the girl next door but their vastly different perspectives of their relationship makes for an uncomfortable, maybe even dangerous situation.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Rattlesnake Point

Director’s Name: Alberto Diamante

Writer’s Name: Alberto Diamante

Director of Photography: Alberto Diamante

Producer: Alberto Diamante

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming : Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Film Description:

After an art heist, the perpetrators start to betray, backstab and kill each other in order to secure the multi-million dollar payout that the painting will yield.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Beauty of Life

Director’s Name: Nicolas Nunez

Writer’s Name: Nicolas Nunez

Producer: Nicolas Nunez, Skyler Muller

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming : United States, Netherlands

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

An international student from America struggles to make friends and adapt when moving to Utrecht, Netherlands, to study.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: All Cats Are Grey In The Dark

Director’s Name: Shannon Denise Evans

Writer’s Name: Shannon Denise Evans

Producer: Shannon Denise Evans, Michael John Mendiola

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 41 seconds

Film Description:

When a heart transplant recipient discovers her life-saving donor was the same man who tried to murder her, she teams up with his sister to uncover why he wanted her dead.