Category: BEST DOCUMENTARY – 2025 ARFF BERLIN

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: DISORDER

Director’s Name: JOSHUA MESZAROS

Writer’s Name: JOSHUA MESZAROS

Producer: JOSHUA MESZAROS

Country of Origin: Ireland

Country of Filming: Germany, Hungary

Language: German

Runtime: 41 minutes 33 seconds

Film Description:

Many people are struggling with disorders these days that are concealed behind closed doors or hidden deep inside.
People with impulse control disorder are often socially excluded and regarded with contempt. The exclusion is building walls between us. In order to reduce these walls we need to get closer and understand each other.
Can I control my impulsive reactions? How my natural tendency to justify everything what I do – including something undesirable, forbidden or illegal – supports disorder? Where are my borders?
This documentary highlights one of the most important factor that develops impulse control disorders.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Heal avec Delphine

Director’s Name: Delphine Breyne

Writer’s Name: Delphine Breyne

Producer: Delphine Breyne

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 30 minutes

Film Description:

Heal avec Delphine is a deeply personal docuseries that follows individuals navigating life after cancer, trauma, alopecia, and other challenges. Each episode invites viewers into a powerful journey of reconnection and renewal—beginning with an intimate look at the person’s world, followed by a transformative beauty restoration at Delphine’s atelier, and ending with a meaningful surprise to mark their new beginning. Through heartfelt storytelling, emotional connection, and light-touch artistry, the series introduces a new era of beauty and healing, where feeling truly seen becomes the start of renewed self-confidence, emotional healing, and personal transformation.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS

Director’s Name: Carl Hunter

Writer’s Name: Paul Birtill

Producer: Martin McQuillan, Roz Di Caprio, Karen Appleton, Scott Bradley, Natasha Hawthornthwaite

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 30 minutes

Film Description:

“All’s Well That Ends” is a cinematic portrait of Liverpool poet Paul Birtill, presented in a visually striking black-and-white format. The film employs a distinctive aesthetic that intercuts Birtill’s readings with dark and absurdist photographs, each encapsulating the essence of the poems, reminiscent of the stills found in Roy Andersson’s works. Through selections from his collections, including “Bad News” and “All’s Well That Ends,” the documentary explores Birtill’s recurring themes of death, relationships, and mental illness, delivered with his signature dark humor and incisive irony. This interplay of image and text not only enhances the emotional resonance of Birtill’s poetry but also invites viewers to engage with the complexities of the human condition. The film serves as a poignant meditation on life and mortality, revealing the profound depth of Birtill’s reflections while celebrating the resilience of the human spirit amidst existential struggles. Ultimately, it stands as a testament to the power of poetry to illuminate the darker facets of life.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: ESCAPE TO BERLIN

Director’s Name: Martin Froyda, Jan Novak

Writer’s Name: Jan Novak

Producer: Martin Froyda, Jan Novak

Country of Origin: Czech Republic

Country of Filming: Czech Republic, Germany, United States

Language: Czech, German

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes 8 seconds

Film Description:

Escape to Berlin is a documentary film about one of the greatest stories of the Cold War, when a group of five young men decided to leave the then-communist Czechoslovakia with guns in hand to join the fighting in the then expected war between the West and the East. The year was 1953, and today, through the last witnesses, we follow the 30-day dramatic journey.
This documentary features the testimony of Joseph Masin who lives in Santa Barbara and was shot in Santa Barbara to a large extent.

(Winner)

Original Film Title: North Node

Director’s Name: Tatjana Green, Nicole VanStone

Writer’s Name: Tatjana Green, Nicole VanStone

Producer: Tatjana Green

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Frostbitten

Director’s Name: David Hanna

Writer’s Name: David Hanna

Producer: David Hanna

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United States, United Kingdom, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 44 minutes 34 seconds

Film Description:

In 1999, Nigel Vardy survived a deadly storm on Mt. McKinley (now called Denali) thanks to a record-breaking rescue. Now, 25 years later, he returns to honor the rescuers and medical teams who saved him, reflect on the journey that gave him a second chance at life, and to learn more about what drives these incredible rescuers and what makes them who they are.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Holy Land 20:22

Director’s Name: Glen MacKay

Writer’s Name: Glen MacKay

Producer: Glen MacKay

Country of Origin: Israel, Palestine, State of

Country of Filming: France, Israel, Palestine, State of, Romania, Spain

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes

Film Description:

In 2022, Glen MacKay travelled to places in the Holy Land influenced by the dreams of his late mother and reaching a milestone birthday.
Along the way, allowing his mind to wander about places, stories and people that have impacted his life.
He realised that unless he pursued something he loved, his life will have flashed by.

Glen is an Australian tv producer based in Paris. An enthusiast of fashion, figure skating and tennis with an admiration of Romania….

Mind wondering… whilst in the Holy Lands… this is the resulting experience.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: A LA RECHERCHE DU PANDA

Director’s Name: Deng Xiangfeng

Writer’s Name: Deng Xiangfeng

Producer: Deng Xiangfeng

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 10 minutes 2 seconds

Film Description:

Jérôme Pouille, a global “Panda Guardian” from France, came to Sichuan again after nearly 10 years. He, together with local panda protectors, went deep into the Tangjiahe and Baoxing areas of the Giant Panda National Park to track the footprints of giant pandas, told his touching stories with these black – and – white angels, and listened to people’s understanding of biodiversity conservation.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: University of Debt

Director’s Name: Dilip Khatri

Writer’s Name: Dilip Khatri

Producer: Dilip Khatri, Ana Michele, Kylie DeVries

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 45 minutes

Film Description:

A film about the crippling debt that students undergo as a result of the the “required” University education.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Flying with Fins

Director’s Name: Maria Averina

Writer’s Name: Mariana Svetoslavova

Producer: Martichka Bozhilova

Country of Origin: Bulgaria

Country of Filming: Bulgaria, Italy

Language: Bulgarian, English, Italian

Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes

Film Description:

Paintings, performances, experiments, electronic music sounding in the space of two old houses in a small Italian town, heated conversations about contemporary art, touching meetings with the closest people and places in Bulgaria after 50 years of separation.

FLYING WITH FINS is a film about the constant search for meaning in art and life. Alzek Misheff, artist – rebel and experimenter, leads us in this philosophical and aesthetic journey through time, space and ideas.