Category: Best Feature Film – 2025 ARFF Barcelona

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The man who saved the internet with a sunflower

Director’s Name: Ori yardeni

Writer’s Name: Ori yardeni, Izhar Har-Lev, Oren Safdei

Producer: Zehava Shekel

Country of Origin: Israel

Country of Filming: Serbia

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes

Film Description:

The dramatic and unknown story of Rob Ryan, the ultimate entrepreneur, who saved the Internet from collapsing in the 90s of the last century, revolutionized the lives of all of us, in every field, and now these days is trying to save the Internet from itself.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Pégame

Director’s Name: Dylan Verrechia

Writer’s Name: Dylan Verrechia

Producer: Dylan Verrechia

Country of Origin: Mexico

Country of Filming: Mexico

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes

Film Description:

Along with their dog Wicca, Ana and Vladi are starting their new life in the foothills of the Kumeyaay tribal land. As Ana learns she’s pregnant, in a society where abortion is not legal, she turns more and more abusive towards Vladi and Wicca.

“Pégame” is a folktale based on the fable of the scorpio and the frog, and a lucid dream in the tradition of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”, Peter Greenaway’s “The Draughtman’s Contract”, Alex Cox’s “Sid and Nancy”, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Betty Blue”, Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro”, Mike Leigh’s “Naked”, Tsai Ming-lian’s “Vive l’Amour”, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cure”, Alfonso Cuarón’s “Y tu mamá también”, Bong Joon-Ho’s “Memories of Murder”, Satoshi Kon’s “Paprika”, Yi’nan Diao’s “Black Coal, Thin Ice”, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s “Évolution”, Andrey Zvyagintsey’s “Loveless”, Ari Aster’s “Midsommar”, or Julie Lecoustre’s “Rien à foutre”.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Greytown Girl

Director’s Name: Darrell James Roodt

Writer’s Name: Rani Sitaram

Producer: Rani Sitaram

Country of Origin: South Africa

Country of Filming: South Africa

Language: English, Hindi, Zulu

Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes 32 seconds

Film Description:

The true story of a small-town girl, born with physical limitations, abandoned as a baby, bravely builds her life and creates a love story that crosses continents through the romance of letter writing. An empowering and cinematic story of love and resilience.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Saffron Kingdom

Director’s Name: Arfat Sheikh

Writer’s Name: Arfat Sheikh, Marium Khalid, Katie Leaman

Producer: Arfat Sheikh

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: India, United States

Language: English, Hindi, Kashmiri, Urdu

Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes

Film Description:

Inspired by actual events, Saffron Kingdom delves into the Kashmir conflict through the lens of a family’s journey from Srinagar in the 1990s to Atlanta in 2019. The narrative starts with young Masrat, who witnesses the violence of insurgency during her childhood. By 2014, as an adult, Masrat faces a devastating turn when her husband is abducted, forcing her to flee to America with her young son, Rizwan.

In Atlanta, Rizwan grapples with the trauma of his father’s disappearance, while Masrat balances her roles as a protective mother and a university researcher documenting their past. The political upheaval in 2019, including the revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and a military siege, severs their remaining ties to family in Kashmir, deepening their sense of loss. Both Masrat and Rizwan wrestle with intergenerational trauma as the scars of their homeland’s conflict reverberate through their lives.

Amidst these challenges, Masrat strives to reclaim her family’s narrative and find their place in a new world, highlighting the enduring struggle for identity and justice amidst personal and political turmoil.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: Let me be

Director’s Name: Dorit S Christensen

Writer’s Name: Dorit S Christensen

Producer: Dorit S Christensen

Country of Origin: Sweden

Country of Filming: Sweden

Language: Danish, Swedish

Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes

Film Description:

The film delves into deeply human and existential themes that resonate across different stages of life. What is compelling is the way it portrays the inner crisis of Adam, the protagonist, as he grapples with the monotony of his life and a sudden, shocking event.

The film explores themes of self-discovery, healing, and the complexities of relationships, particularly within families. Adam’s connection with his daughter becomes pivotal for his personal transformation – she represents a bridge between the scientific and spiritual, offering him a new perspective on healing.

Another aspect that stands out is the film’s exploration of love and relationships at different ages, from the youthful uncertainty of using Tinder as a shield to the middle-aged challenge of rekindling love in long-term partnerships. It also touches on the neglected elderly, which gives a full spectrum of life’s relational challenges.

The existential questions, like finding meaning in being versus doing, seem particularly thought-provoking, and the way the film brings in spiritual elements without losing touch with grounded human emotions.

It is a reflective and layered film that encourages introspection on what it means to live fully and authentically, even in the face of life’s challenges and changes.

Original Film Title: The Reckoning

Director’s Name: Alex Breaux

Writer’s Name: Michael Weaver

Producer: Michael Weaver, Jen Roskind

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: France

Language: English, French

Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes

Film Description:

An American man’s will stipulates his ashes be spread at a French chateau he visited years previous. Caught off guard, his disabled widow and two sons are forced overseas to fulfill the strange request. Haunted by his dead father once there, the eldest son unearths a dark family secret that leads to a horrifying outcome.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: A Fire in Africa

Director’s Name: Gerhard Uys

Writer’s Name: Emil Kolbe

Producer: Gerhard Uys

Country of Origin: South Africa

Country of Filming: Namibia, South Africa

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Film Description:

The OvaHimba of the Namib Desert are descendants of the Ancient Egyptians from the era of Queen Nefertiti, and was once the richest nomadic tribe in Africa. Now, however, they find themselves on the brink of extinction. Trapped in the 1904 Herero-Nama war, they settled in the godforsaken wastes of Kaokoland after fleeing genocide at the hands of the German army and marauding Nama gangs. Having grown weary of the name ‘OvaHimba’, which means ‘beggars’, reigning Chief Nguzu believes their only hope for survival lies in the hands of his grandson, Omusuverua [the protagonist].

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: La Casa Azul

Director’s Name: Claudio Callao

Writer’s Name: Claudio Callao, Pancho Rodriguez

Producer: Victor Miranda, Claudia Cosio, Boris Quintero

Country of Origin: Mexico

Country of Filming: Mexico

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes

Film Description:

Martín, a talented and retired piano player meets Mariana, his best friend, Pedro’s daughter. Without thinking, a great love story is born between them, where Mariana is the inspiring muse. Martin is 42 years older than Mariana, that’s why both of them will face all the vicissitudes such a relationship entails. In the end, Mariana will find out that her mission is not to inspire anyone but herself.