Category: Globe Award – 2025 ARFF Paris

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: ZĀGBÉTO – Les Murmures du Masque

Director’s Name: Sitou Akolly

Writer’s Name: Sitou Akolly

Producer: Sitou Akolly

Country of Origin: Togo

Country of Filming: Togo

Language: English

Runtime: 11 minutes 19 seconds

Film Description:

ZĀGBÉTO is a lyrical exploration of memory, spirituality, and cultural continuity, set deep within the forests of Togo. Through the eyes of a young girl and the guardianship of a sacred ancestral figure, the film examines the fragile threshold between tradition and modernity.

When Ahuefa—whose name means “Calm Home” in Ewe—encounters the enigmatic spirit Zāgbéto, the masked protector of her village, she is drawn into a world shaped by oral history, ritual, and inherited wisdom. Narrated by griots—the storytellers entrusted with preserving the community’s collective memory—the film unfolds as a meditation on the enduring presence of the past in the present.

Infused with movement, music, and myth, ZĀGBÉTO is a poetic farewell to a guardian spirit and a quiet call to preserve what still lives within ancestral knowledge. In an increasingly fragmented world, the film invites viewers to reconsider what must be remembered—and what it means to carry legacy forward.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Sweet Störy

Director’s Name: Sarah Justine Kerruish, Matt Maude

Writer’s Name: Sarah Justine Kerruish, Matt Maude

Producer: Sarah Justine Kerruish, Matt Maude

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Sweden, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes

Film Description:

‘A compelling documentary that follows Bay Area chef Meg Ray’s quest to revive a struggling café on a remote Swedish island’ – San Francisco Chronicle

In these uncertain times, Sweet Störy is a reminder of what is possible when just a few people set out to make their corner of the world a better place. It is an epic adventure about an American baker and a small group of islanders who attempt to save a tiny cafe in the remote Swedish archipelago and preserve a unique way of life for future generations.

Cafe Truten is only open for eight weeks a year but this bakery on the tiny island of Rödlöga is a lifeline in the remotest corner of the Baltic Sea. When Meg first steps foot in the charming cafe for the first time she has a strange sense that she has met her destiny – and must do everything she can to keep the cafe and community alive.

“Cafe Truten has occupied more real estate in my mind, than any place on Earth. I literally have no idea how this little cafe has had such a profound effect, not just on me, but everyone who goes through there, feels it”

With only a matter of days to transform the cafe from winter hibernation to its summer opening on the Swedish holiday of Midsummer, Meg and her teenage helpers are pushed to their limits. The cafe has no running water or consistent electricity and while we watch Meg and her teenage team suffer setbacks and pull off culinary miracles in the tiny Cafe Truten kitchen, we explore Swedish traditions, issues of sustainability and the heroic attempts of the islanders to preserve Rödlöga for the next generation who will inhabit it.

As Meg makes the transition from patisserie perfectionist to an accidental organic sourdough bread maker, she learns to let go of her past, rediscovers lost joy and finds a deeper meaning to her life, all while passing on her learnings to the teenagers who are unexpectedly forced to take over the cafe when Meg has to suddenly leave the island…

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Unlocking The Potential: The Vital Role of Specialist Education

Director’s Name: Amel Tresnjic

Writer’s Name: Amel Tresnjic

Producer: John Mooney

Country of Origin: Australia

Country of Filming: Australia

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes 55 seconds

Film Description:

Step inside the extraordinary world of Emerson School—where education becomes a lifeline, and potential knows no bounds.
Discover the inspiring story of Emerson School—a shining example of specialist education—and the transformative impact it has on the lives of students with additional learning needs. This compelling feature documentary, made by multi-award-winning filmmaker Amel Tresnjic, highlights the life-changing impact of specialist education and reveals how unlocking human potential can transform not only individual lives, but the very fabric of our society.

Original Film Title: Chœurs Atlantiques

Director’s Name: Safoi Babana-Hampton

Writer’s Name: Safoi Babana-Hampton

Producer: Safoi Babana-Hampton

Country of Origin: France, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Senegal, United States

Country of Filming: France, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Senegal, United States

Language:

Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes

Film Description:

The film is a poignant personal memory quest that begins at the Bay of Diamant, in Martinique, and carries us to 3 continents, to shine light on what it means to be black today in a globally interconnected world, as seen through the eyes of Martinican artist Laurent Valère and his transatlantic dialogs with the black diaspora.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: SAGDID

Director’s Name: Taylor John

Writer’s Name: Taylor John

Producer: Taylor John

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 19 minutes

Film Description:

The four – eyed dog standing on a high place stared coldly. It watched him steal the fruits from the Tree of Life to worship the gods, watched as his flock of sheep turned into empty sheepskins in the thick fog, watched as everything he had was devoured by the apocalyptic fire, and watched as he set foot on the path of judgment naked, all like a nightmare.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Hidden Heritage of Yerevan

Director’s Name: Vugar Khalilov

Writer’s Name: Elshan Rustamov

Producer: Vugar Khalilov

Country of Origin: Azerbaijan

Country of Filming: Armenia, Azerbaijan

Language: Russian

Runtime: 37 minutes

Film Description:

“The Hidden Heritage of Yerevan” is a profound documentary that embarks on a compelling journey to uncover the concealed history and cultural heritage of Azerbaijani presence in Yerevan. The documentary team, equipped with thorough preparation, historical maps, and photos, unwrap the significance of religious buildings going beyond their primary purpose as places of worship. These buildings, rich in history, culture, and spiritual significance, embody the struggles, hopes, and destinies of the people they represent.
The film particularly focuses on mosques, showcasing them as symbols of a cultural heritage that has been lost. The narrative stresses that every religious building encapsulates not just a space for prayer but also serves as a sanctuary where past and future converge, where every stone and pattern narrates a story.
In a gripping segment, the documentary references an article by American journalist Robert Cullen, published in The New Yorker in April 1991. Following in Cullen’s footsteps, the team unveils a grim reality of the various sites In Yerevan. The team is led to a site, previously the location of a mosque, significant as a religious centre for the Azerbaijani community in Yerevan. This revelation is accompanied by a heartrending tale of the mosque’s destruction, a calculated act that began with crowbars and culminated with bulldozers.
Three decades later, prompted by Cullen’s article, the documentary team embarks on a quest to uncover the history of this monument, the Demeure Bulag mosque. They concentrate on what seems like a typical residential area in modern Yerevan, where the mosque once stood. Through meticulous examination of the site and interactions with local residents, the team seeks to confirm the existence of the mosque, facing a community often unaware or reluctant to acknowledge its past.
“The Hidden Heritage of Yerevan” is more than a documentary; it’s a journey into the past, exploring untold stories and unearthing secrets of a city’s complex history. It stands as a testament to the enduring importance of cultural and religious monuments in narrating the diverse stories of our world.