Category: BEST DOCUMENTARY – 2025 ARFF AMSTERDAM

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Westlanders in Australia

Director’s Name: Heleen Van Berkel

Writer’s Name: Heleen Van Berkel

Producer: Heleen Van Berkel

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: Australia

Language:

Runtime: 31 minutes 4 seconds

Film Description:

Westlanders in Australia is a deeply personal and thought-provoking documentary that explores themes of migration, identity, and cultural belonging through the story of the Looyen family, who emigrated from the Netherlands to Australia in 1976. More than a story about relocation, this film delves into what it truly means to leave your homeland behind — and how roots, heritage, and memory continue to shape one’s sense of self across generations and continents.

The film examines living heritage through the lens of one ordinary Dutch family, whose journey becomes a mirror for a universal experience: the emotional complexity of building a new life elsewhere, and the often invisible threads that tie migrants to the place they once called home. What does it mean to belong? And how does the time period, government policy, or even a lack of agency — as in the case of children who had “no say in the matter” — influence that sense of identity?

Through three generations, Westlanders in Australia gives voice not only to those who left, but also to those who stayed behind. The film brings forward the lesser-told story of the ones who remained — friends, siblings, loved ones — in a time before email, WhatsApp, or cheap international calling. These voices of the “left-behinds” offer a poignant counterpoint to the migrants’ perspectives, enriching the emotional landscape of the film.

Director Heleen van Berkel approaches these themes with depth, sensitivity, and journalistic clarity. Her exploration reveals how migrants — especially those who are outwardly “invisible” because they blend in — still carry the imprint of their origins in subtle and profound ways. The result is an intimate, multilayered family portrait that resonates with anyone who has migrated, loved someone who has, or ever wondered what it truly means to call a place “home.”

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Dream a World

Director’s Name: Barry Rosenthal, Christo Tsiaras

Writer’s Name: Barry Rosentjal

Producer: Kayla Young, Daija Smith

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 1 minute

Film Description:

This film explores the state of the foster care system in Los Angeles and one organization that is helping foster youth find a path to careers in storytelling and filmmaking.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Why Not Me

Director’s Name: Matt Cohn

Writer’s Name: Matt Cohn

Producer: Matt Cohn

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

Once amongst the lowest test scores in the state, Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy now stands as a beacon of hope for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The culprit: a one woman storm by the name of Dr. Elaine Swafford. Dr. Swafford and co- founder Dr. Sue Anne Wells made a promise for the school: to inspire hope in each girl, positively change her trajectory in life, and empower her to possess infinite choices in the future. Why Not Me? is a feature documentary that tells the inspiring story of how Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy transforms the lives of underprivileged female students. Through the emotional journeys of four gifted students, the film highlights the school’s commitment to changing a flawed educational system and providing these girls with opportunities to support their future.

(Winner)

Original Film Title: JAKE

Director’s Name: Francisco Paco Carrascosa

Writer’s Name: Francisco Paco Carrascosa

Producer: Francisco Paco Carrascosa

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Country of Filming : United States, Switzerland

Language: English, French, German, Swiss German

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Film Description:

JAKE: A 16-year-old Appenzell (Switzerland) girl from a good family gives birth to a child after a language study trip to New York. The father: African-American, unknown. The child is immediately given up for adoption by the mother’s family. She is given the name Jacqueline and grows up in a rural, conservative, strictly Catholic environment. At the age of eight, she realizes that she was born into the wrong body. Jacqueline now knows that she is a boy. Three years later, the teenager discards the hated girl’s name and henceforth calls herself Jeremy. He embarks on a long journey of identity search and transformation, characterized by inner turmoil, drama and conflict.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Brasse Vannie Kaap

Director’s Name: Lauren Scholtz

Writer’s Name: Lauren Scholtz

Producer: Lauren Scholtz

Country of Origin: South Africa

Country of Filming : South Africa

Language: Afrikaans

Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes

Film Description:

BRASSE VANNIE KAAP is a captivating and emotional documentary film about an iconic South African Hip Hop group “Brasse Vannie Kaap” (BVK) who exploded onto the music scene during the pivotal early years of the new South Africa. Various group members and a host of local celebrities (Early B, Jack Parow and more), reflect deeply on BVK’s remarkable journey and their undeniable impact. The film also takes a behind-the-scenes peek at how Grandmaster Ready D and DJ Azuhl plan an intimate tribute show in honour of BVK’s late frontman Mr Fat aka Ashley Titus. It culminates with a nostalgic reunion performance that evokes the memory of a unique and special era in South African history and celebrates the legacy of this influential group.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Becoming aNader

Director’s Name: Hanita Admony Atoun, Roy Dagon

Writer’s Name: Hanita Admony Atoun, Roy Dagon

Producer: Oded Kessler, Sun Bar

Country of Origin: Israel

Country of Filming : Israel

Language: Hebrew

Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes 13 seconds

Film Description:

Becomin aNader is a documentary about Dr. Oded Kessler, a successful mainstream doctor, who is exposed to the mind-body connection after a family medical crisis brings him to study with Dr. Nader Bhutto. Oded embarks on a brave candid journey of spiritual healing, revealing stories from the past, while his fellow students are the ones treating him. The journey connects him to his life’s calling, opening the door to the medicine of the future and brings the group closer together as family.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Broad Minded City

Director’s Name: Quirino de la Cuesta

Writer’s Name: Quirino de la Cuesta

Producer: Quirino de la Cuesta

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes

Film Description:

Broad Minded City is a full-feature documentary film about Urban Planning, Design and Architecture exploring the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright’s urban model, “Broadacre City,” and today’s urban sprawl. It investigates the origins of Broadacre City, the similarities/dissimilarities between Broadacre City and today’s urban sprawl, and the challenges today’s cities facing a sustainable future and a new urban typology addressing these issues.

This film features interviews of former apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright, well-known architects, urban theorists, designers, city planners, artists, community activists and transportation experts. In the interviews, they discuss transitioning for a viable, livable, sustainable and equitable future through civic engagement, grass-roots campaigning, and a better understanding what Broadacre City was about. Plus, how Broadacre City did or didn’t influence today’s urban sprawl like Los Angeles, Detroit, Phoenix, and other western cities dominated by the automobile is open to discussion. The question is “Where do you go?” when there is an ever-present need to change the present urban model.

The film also focuses on the greater Los Angeles area as a case study in urban development, transportation infrastructure, density, urban design, open space and housing dealing in transitioning away from the suburbia model. The present Los Angeles is in the midst of transitioning communities, street design, mobility, environmental impact, identity, bringing nature into the equation and the role of architecture and design.

Frank Lloyd Wright, considered the greatest American architect, developed the term and the philosophy of “Organic Architecture” that was reflective of his life’s work. He influenced the world with his approach to urban planning, design and architecture via his urban concept model Broadacre City, and how it was misunderstood as the progenitor of urban sprawl. It’s more important at present to understand Broadacre City concepts and to apply those concepts of organic living to today’s urban approach.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Halal Dreams

Director’s Name: Mohammed Mamdouh

Writer’s Name: Mohammed Mamdouh, Jumana Radi

Producer: Jumana Radi, Yauheniya Ramanovich

Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates

Country of Filming : United States

Language: Arabic, English, Georgian, Korean

Runtime: 8 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description:

On a cold night, under the pulse of neon and motion, an Egyptian halal food truck worker spends his day trying to call his daughter. Each time he picks up the phone, the city itself reaches out not as a disruption, but as a living presence. What unfolded became a way to see life from the ground up, not through skylines, but through the rhythm of those who serve, feed, and carry its stories. It’s a story about longing, and the quiet weight of trying to stay close to someone you love in a place that never stands still.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: The lit-up calm

Director’s Name: Hisashi Arima

Writer’s Name: Hisashi Arima

Producer: Shinji Aoki

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming : Japan

Language: Japanese

Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

The setting is Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. On May 5, 2023, at around 14:42, the “Reiwa 5 Noto Earthquake” struck the Okunoto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, recording a maximum seismic intensity of 6+. The town was aiming for recovery from the earthquake’s damage. The festival-loving locals somehow managed to make their festival a success and began their path to recovery.

January 1, 2024, at 16:10. Once again, Suzu City was hit by the “Reiwa 6 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.” Despite the catastrophic situation caused by repeated earthquakes, the people of Suzu were determined to rise again

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: NO FLOWERS

Director’s Name: MAURIZIO MALIORE

Writer’s Name: MAURIZIO MALIORE

Producer: MAURIZIO MALIORE

Country of Origin: Italy

Country of Filming : Italy

Language: Italian

Runtime: 1 hour 9 minutes

Film Description:

NO FLOWERS (Nessun Fiore) is an independent documentary that tackles a dramatically topical issue: sexual violence as a weapon of war. Through the voices of women who bear witness, analyse and recount their memories, the film tells how sexual violence has been used over the centuries as a tool of domination and annihilation.
From ancient Greece to Italy devastated by the “marocchinate” of the Second World War, to Bosnia in the 1990s, Nessun Fiore denounces a crime that, despite changing its face and context, has never ceased to exist. Women have learned to defend themselves and be resilient even in the face of such heinous violence.
Among the protagonists are Luciana Romoli, a partisan courier, Azra Nuhefendic, a Bosnian journalist, and Gabriella Geraci, a psychologist, who explore individual and collective trauma. Also contributing are Tibisay Ambrosini, coordinator of the Stop Rape Italia campaign, and Emiliano Ciotti, president of the Associazione Vittime delle Marocchinate (Association of Victims of the Marocchinate), which has collected over 20,000 documents on these forgotten acts of violence.
Ilaria Patamia gives voice to the Greek chorus that unites myth and history, Paola Diegoli pays tribute to the victims of every war, and Roberta Biagiarelli, who has been committed for years to recounting the tragedy of Srebrenica (this year marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide), reminds us how necessary it is to continue to tell the story.
In what Pope Francis has called “the third world war in pieces”, Nessun Fiore questions whether these historical acts of violence are also at the root of the growing brutality in times of peace: femicide, domestic abuse, silent oppression.
Nessun Fiore is an act of memory, justice and truth.