Category: STAFF PICKS – 2025 ARFF BERLIN

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School – dir. Rolf Eckel

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: School

Director’s Name: Rolf Eckel

Writer’s Name: eigenarrtick

Producer: Rolf Eckel, Philipp Brugger

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 3 minutes 3 seconds

Film Description:

School is intended to take the viewer back to the time when they themselves still went to school. The focus here is on explaining how students behave with a “nice teacher” and with a “mean teacher”. Over the course of the video, the teacher changes from “good (red)” to “bad (black)”, which also affects the behavior of the students (inattentive/obedient). For this purpose, clichéd situations such as “solving a task on the board as punishment” and “writing a surprise test” are presented. The plot twist at the end shows how the students’ behavior has changed due to the punishments and the transformation from the “nice” to the “mean” teacher.

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Fare Share – dir. Carlos Leos

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: Fare Share

Director’s Name: Carlos Leos

Writer’s Name: Amard Efil

Producer: Carlos Leos

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 26 minutes 14 seconds

Film Description:

On the surface, it’s just another rideshare. But as a weary driver picks up a silent, blood-covered passenger, what begins as awkward small talk unravels into a quiet confrontation with his own doubts, fears, and faith. With no answers from the woman in his backseat, and none from the universe he keeps questioning, the ride grows increasingly tense. Some fares are routine. This one carries a price.

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HANDIBROKEN FANTOMS (LOL) – dir. Rahma Sophia RACHDI

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: HANDIBROKEN FANTOMS (LOL)

Director’s Name: Rahma Sophia RACHDI

Writer’s Name: Rahma Sophia RACHDI

Producer: MYC AGNEW

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: English, French

Runtime: 8 hours 17 minutes

Film Description:

HANDIBROKEN FANTOMS (LOL), is a mockumentary, dealing with the inclusion of people with disabilities in the film industry. It was self-produced and directed by a person herself with a motor disability (wheelchair) with reduced mobility, as part of an Avon 77 Kinorama. The director believes in humor and self-mockery to convey the positive messages about inclusion based on one’s own disability situation, and lead to a co-construction. This short mockumentary is a potential game-changer for the disabled people in these communities in France and elsewhere. HANDIBROKEN FANTOMS (LOL), reflects this state of mind by highlighting the “broken of life” which, alas, seems to become “invisible” or even “ghosts” in a modern society, claiming to be inclusive.

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The Human Voice – dir. Iphigenie Worbes, Andreas Schröder

(Audience Award Winner)

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Original Film Title: The Human Voice

Director’s Name: Iphigenie Worbes, Andreas Schröder

Writer’s Name: Iphigenie Worbes, Iphigenie Worbes

Producer: Iphigenie Worbes, Andreas Schröder

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 46 minutes 41 seconds

Film Description:

The film begins with a crack of light revealing a woman, “Elle”, collapsed on the floor. A sudden phone ring startles her. After a recent breakup Elle has been desperately waiting for her ex to call. As their conversation unfolds, surreal imagery mirrors Elle’s emotional journey through the stages of the separation: denial, nostalgia, anger, self-blame, and ultimately, resolution. Her ex’s responses are left to the imagination, conveyed only through her reactions and the shifting musical landscape. The fractured dialogue, distorted by a poor phone connection and dishonesty on both sides, deepens her isolation. In this telecommunicative void, the phone line becomes a lifeline and a gallows rope, connecting and separating, offering both hope and doom.

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AUDIOQUATROSCOPY Unter den Linden Berlin & Mendelssohn – dir. Hans Thierstein

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: AUDIOQUATROSCOPY Unter den Linden Berlin & Mendelssohn

Director’s Name: Hans Thierstein

Writer’s Name: Hans Thierstein

Producer: Hans Thierstein

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Country of Filming: Switzerland

Language: German

Runtime: 3 minutes 9 seconds

Film Description:

An Audioquatroscopy is a new type of mobile digital design, whose movements are synchronized to the rhythm of a music piece. A quatroscope is a four-sided mirror tunnel, similar to a kaleidoscope, but with four, rather than three mirrors. A square image placed at one end – when watched from the other end of the tunnel – is reflected repeatedly in four directions. Unexpected and fascinating patterns emerge, which change, when the central image is moved. This Audioquatroscopy brings a coloured Google Earth view of Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Humboldt University in Berlin to move to the rhythm of Felix Mendelssohn‘s „Songs without words“ Opus 67, No. 3, which Mendelssohn composed during his stay in Berlin 1841-1845. During that time he was also sponsored by the two famous brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt. Alexander von Humboldt is considered one of the most outstanding German natural scientist of the nineteenth century. After reconstruction of Germany in 1949 the oldest University in Berlin, facing Berlins Staatsoper Unter den Linden, was renamed as Humboldt University of Berlin.

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Metropolis – dir. Fritz Lang

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: Metropolis

Director’s Name: Fritz Lang

Writer’s Name: Thea von Harbou

Producer: Semoha Homes

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes

Film Description:

Metropolis – die Stadt der Zukunft. Fritz Langs monumentaler Science-Fiction-Film verbindet visuelle Kraft mit einer Liebesgeschichte um die Versöhnung von Arbeit und Kapital: Hoch über der Stadt herrscht Joh Fredersen, während unter der Erde die Arbeiter schuften. Fredersens Sohn Freder verliebt sich in die Arbeiterführerin Maria. Gleichzeitig erschafft Rotwang, der Erfinder, einen stählernen Roboter, dem er auf Fredersens Anweisung das Aussehen Marias gibt. Die falsche Maria wiegelt die Arbeiter auf, die ihre Maschinen verlassen und damit die Überflutung der Stadt auslösen. Erst durch Freders und Marias Einsatz kann Metropolis gerettet werden. Herr der Stadt und Arbeiter erkennen, dass “Hirn” und “Hände” zusammengehören.

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Mutation – dir. Carlo Ayhllón

(Honorable Mention)

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Original Film Title: Mutation

Director’s Name: Carlo Ayhllón

Writer’s Name: Carlo Ayhllón

Producer: Carlo Ayhllón, Iván Trujillo

Country of Origin: Mexico

Country of Filming: Mexico

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 1 hour

Film Description:

Mutación is a documentary that focuses on the creative process, set up and world premiere of
the musical work Mutación, by Carlo Ayhllón, as well as on showing the great work of the
musicians in the OJUEM orchestra, the soloists, the conductor, and the musical production
collaborators, which was vital for the challenging development of this contemporary work for
electric guitar, piano, controller and orchestra. It is a journey through the philosophy, the
musical elements on which this work is built, and the auditory experience we are going to see
and listen to. The interviewed artists are well-known musicians and the members from the
public who were invited to share their opinions had the chance of attending the premiere on
February 25, 2024, at the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall. This film invites you to explore new
sonorities of the orchestra music and to bring the public closer to contemporary music.

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Blue Bird – dir. Haeun Kim

(Finalist)

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Original Film Title: Blue Bird

Director’s Name: Haeun Kim

Writer’s Name: Haeun Kim

Producer: Haeun Kim

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: English

Runtime: 3 minutes 33 seconds

Film Description:

In the heart of a desolate winter mountain, a lone birdwatcher embarks on a routine observation—until an impossible sight disrupts the frozen landscape. A vibrant bluebird, out of place in the icy wilderness, flits past her eyes. Captivated, she follows the elusive creature deeper into the forest, where she stumbles upon a mysterious cottage untouched by winter’s grasp. Drawn by curiosity, she steps inside.