Category: BEST STUDENT FILM – 2025 ARFF BERLIN

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Outside the land

Director’s Name: Anna Zhang

Writer’s Name: Anna Zhang

Producer: Anna Zhang

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China, Japan

Language: English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese (Cantonese)

Runtime: 13 minutes 17 seconds

Film Description:

Jiang Shu, lost in confusion and fear of the future, escapes to Odawara for a brief retreat, only to find herself caught in an endless time loop. Amid her futile attempts to break free, she meets Xiaolan, a painter by the sea. What begins as a relentless trap slowly transforms into a journey of redemption, as Jiang Shu uncovers warmth and meaning in the ordinary, learning to face the unknown and embrace every possibility life offers.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Faces within the Wheel : “This Is A Game Where You Will Morph Into…”

Director’s Name: Eunchae Won

Writer’s Name: Eunchae Won

Producer: Eunchae Won

Country of Origin: Germany, South Korea

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: English

Runtime: 7 minutes 13 seconds

Film Description:

A single-channel looping video work derived from recorded gameplay of an original game designed by Eunchae NJ Won

What face are we wearing now?
Here, in this temporary seat within the wheel of rebirth, we happen to have taken on the form of us right now. This form will not last; one day it will change again into another form. That is why, in this moment, our gaze upon the world must hold a deeper sense of responsibility. We must seek not to erase our differences, but to cultivate a mind that learns and expands through them. The wheel rolls on ceaselessly, carrying us to new places. In that flow, what we can strive for is to make the ocean more embrace all. And in that ocean, what face we wear now won’t matter at all.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: ALTERATIONS

Director’s Name: Kaden Cooper

Writer’s Name: Kaden Cooper

Producer: Kade Cooper

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 2 minutes

Film Description:

Fashion phenomenon Kaityn Clark has dazzled millions with her impossible designs and mesmerizing livestreams, but it’s her highly anticipated online sewing masterclass that will make history – just not in the way anyone expected. When a simple pin prick during her live demonstration triggers an otherworldly chain reaction, her two million viewers are about to discover why her designs have always seemed out of this world.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: 《The Land of Ducks》

Director’s Name: Marcoster

Writer’s Name: Marcoster

Producer: Marcoster

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 5 minutes 13 seconds

Film Description:

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Magic Hour

Director’s Name: Sainan Zhang

Writer’s Name: Sainan Zhang

Producer: Sainan Zhang

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 16 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description:

Lin Han was torn between her father’s expectations and her own ideals, yearning to pursue her passion like Yan Yan, yet unable to ignore her family’s desire for stability. Yan Yan, a part-time employee at a photography studio, received an acceptance letter from a foreign university one day—marking a new beginning but also heralding their impending separation. The unspoken feelings between them gradually surfaced. Two years later, Lin Han attended Yan Yan’s photography exhibition and saw a photo of herself that Yan Yan had secretly taken by the seaside back then. Upon reuniting, the two grew even more certain of the emotions they shared—something far deeper than friendship.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Natalia

Director’s Name: Yu Han Chang

Writer’s Name: Yu Han Chang

Producer: Yu Han Chang

Country of Origin: Taiwan

Country of Filming: Poland

Language: English, Polish

Runtime: 5 minutes

Film Description:

“Natalia” is a film I made in Poland from the perspective of an Asian student. I went abroad for a year, in order to escape from the monotonous life back home in Taipei—only to realize, that I had merely created a new kind of repetitive daily routine in a foreign land.
The film presents the absurdity of everyday repetition with abstract imagery. Through the bilingual internal dialogue of the protagonist, Natalia, who becomes aware of this looping pattern, the film questions whether travel is an escape from the cycle or simply the beginning of a new one.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: 西湖龍井 (West Lake Dragon Well)

Director’s Name: Matthew Kahn

Writer’s Name: Matthew Kahn

Producer: Robert Page

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: Chinese, English

Runtime: 10 minutes

Film Description:

While newly-appointed CEO Tony Wang initiates mass-layoffs, he is interrupted by a surprise party held in his honor- thrown by a team that has just, unbeknownst to them, been fired without severance. Tony, powerless to deny the social gesture of a party in his honor, is in for a night he will never forget.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: At Home, At The Zoo

Director’s Name: Yuyan Zhang

Writer’s Name: Yuyan Zhang

Producer: Jiacheng Chen

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Runtime: 17 minutes 17 seconds

Film Description:

A woman who can’t find her place in life, because of an intruder in her home, discovers more possibilities in life.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Across the breakwater

Director’s Name: Alessandra Vera González

Writer’s Name: Alessandra Vera González

Producer: Alessandra Vera González, Grecia Fernanda Torres Soltero

Country of Origin: Mexico

Country of Filming: Mexico

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 15 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

Ten years ago, the raccoons that inhabited the Zona de los Pinos in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, were forced to leave their homes and find refuge on the breakwaters of Playa Miramar due to the increasing tourism. Today, they spend their days strolling along the boardwalk, mingling with locals and tourists, becoming a tourist attraction.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR POSTHUMOUS REHABILITATION

Director’s Name: Mara Canal-Rosioara

Writer’s Name: Mara Canal-Rosioara

Producer: Mara Canal-Rosioara, Fabio Pais dos Santos

Country of Origin: Romania

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: Romanian

Runtime: 15 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

The imposed theme of the project was ‘Homeland’ (Germ. Heimat), an experimental film based on photographs.

In this sense, I decided to visualize in video format my process of discovering the story of Niculae Dobre, the first husband of my maternal grandmother, who was executed in 1958 during the communist regime in Romania.