Category: ARFF Amsterdam 2024 – Best Actress & Actors Award

Original Film Title: PRITHIBI、

Director’s Name: Joy Peter Halder

Writer’s Name: Joy Peter Halder

Producer: Joy Peter Halder

Country of Origin: Bangladesh

Country of Filming: Bangladesh

Language: English

Runtime: 37 minutes 35 seconds

Film Description:

A film maker bump in to a writer who lives away from any kind technology in a distant village. The film maker convinces the writer to visit his place with a motive of millions of views online. Things take a different turn once the film maker reaches the village.

Original Film Title: Agemo、

Director’s Name: Moshood Abiola Obatula

Writer’s Name: Esther Olayinka Omoyele

Producer: Adewale Obatula, Saheed Busari, Oluwashina Omisope

Country of Origin: Nigeria

Country of Filming: Nigeria

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes

Film Description:

Every ten years, a sinister secret lurks beneath the vibrant Agemo festival in a remote Yoruba town. One in ten female corp members serving there mysteriously vanish. Agatha, defying this deadly fate, finds herself the sole survivor. Flickering oil lamps, remnants of the missing women’s souls serve as messages to Agatha. A haunted old woman, driven by a desperate need to protect, offers cryptic warnings. As Agatha untangles the truth, she discovers the souls are trapped, fueling the town’s dark rituals. Thrust into a dangerous conspiracy, Agatha must confront a powerful secret that could cost her life.Will Agatha, guided by the spectral whispers, escape the clutches of Agemo? The film leaves audiences on a knife’s edge, questioning her fate as she emerges, weakened but free, on a desolate road.

Original Film Title: 心平、

Director’s Name: Tatsuro Yamashiro

Writer’s Name: Haruka Takenami

Producer: Yuji Tajiri

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: Japanese

Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes 50 seconds

Film Description:

Summer of 2014. The film takes place in a rural village in Japan three years after the nuclear accident.

Shinpei Omura, a mentally handicapped man who lives in this village, lost his job as a farmer due to the nuclear accident and has become a burglar.
Shinpei’s father, Ippei, hates Shinpei’s disability.
Shinpei’s sister, Ichigo, is like a mother to him.
However, she despairs of her boring life and the village with no future. Their mother left the village when they were young and never returned.

Finally, Shinpei leaves the village after the burglary is discovered. And as Ichigo follows Shinpei, she catches a glimpse of his lonely heart. That what Shinpei really wants is neither money nor things.

Original Film Title: Amentalio

Director’s Name: Mokotsi Rukundo

Writer’s Name: Fernanda Vilela

Producer: Fernanda Vilela, Johanna Thur, Jeanette Schock

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 15 minutes

Film Description:

Emilia and Liam are preparing to welcome their new baby; as we follow their story, we learn how strong a mother’s love is.

Original Film Title: Cachot

Director’s Name: Samueldavid John Baromeo

Writer’s Name: Samueldavid John Baromeo

Producer: Samueldavid John Baromeo

Country of Origin: Curaçao

Country of Filming: Curaçao

Language: Papiamento

Runtime: 13 minutes 22 seconds

Film Description:

Cachot follows the journey of Lisa Elisabeth, a talented ballerina whose life revolves around her passion for professional dancing. With dreams of achieving greatness in the world of dance, she eagerly awaits the arrival of her baby, believing it will add new dimensions of joy and purpose to her life. However, tragedy strikes when Lisa experiences a devastating miscarriage, shattering her dreams and plunging her into a deep state of despair. Struggling to cope with overwhelming grief, she battles with self-doubt, depression, and suicidal thoughts, finding herself trapped in a dark and suffocating emotional abyss. As Lisa grapples with the profound loss and emotional turmoil, she embarks on a poignant journey of self-discovery and healing.

Original Film Title: 香港來的Diana 〜香港から来たダイアナ〜

Director’s Name: Naoki Fujimoto

Writer’s Name: Naoki Fujimoto

Producer: Naoki Fujimoto

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: Chinese, Japanese

Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes 5 seconds

Film Description:

Diana Sato (41 years old), a woman from Hong Kong, lives in Tokyo, Japan with her two elementary school-age sons and Eiji (8 years old). Diana starts her own Chinese conversation class as a side job to save for her son’s future.
Taku Nagayasu (35 years old) joins Diana’s Chinese conversation class due to her random chance. Nagayasu was a 35-year-old part-time worker who lived with vague anxiety about his life.
Through his Chinese conversation class, Nagayasu gradually began to look beyond Japan to the world. At the same time, a major event that shook the world was taking place in Hong Kong…

Original Film Title: Group

Director’s Name: William R.A. Rush

Writer’s Name: William R.A. Rush

Producer: Xxena N. Rush

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes 58 seconds

Film Description:

At a group meeting for recovering drug addicts, not everyone is revealing the full truth.

Original Film Title: 中文

Director’s Name: Bo-Wei Ling

Writer’s Name: Hao-Yi 蘇

Producer: Hao-Yi Hsu, Sam Liao, Steve Wang

Country of Origin: Taiwan

Country of Filming: Taiwan

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 18 minutes 29 seconds

Film Description:

Qi (played by Wang Ke-yuan) is a modern gentleman who longs for freedom, but his girlfriend, Qian (played by Li Xing), who is a few years older than he, wants so much to get married and have kids. With the dissension, they move into a rooftop old flat with a large terrace introduced by a real estate agent (played by Rhydian Vaughan).
With no reason at all, once they move in, Qian suddenly disappears, leaving only an engagement ring stuck in the flowerbed on the terrace.
While he is looking for her, Qi is trying to drill open the cemented flowerbed to get the ring and facing the old house with ghosts at the same time… And everything seems to be related to the weird portrait of a lady, something which the previous tenants have left.
Where exactly is Qian? Is the lady in the portrait a ghost or a human being? When he has to face his past again because of loss of his love, what new comprehension does Qi have about marriage?

Our leading actor, Qi, is played by Wang Ke-yuan, who has been nominated Best New Actor by Taipei Film Festival and made his mark with the local drama “The World Between Us”. Our leading actress, Qian, is played by Li Xing, who has been nominated Best Supporting Actress by Golden Horse Awards and awarded Best Supporting Actress by Golden Bell Awards with the drama “Gold Leaf”. The mysterious real estate agent in the short film is played by Rhydian Vaughan, who has been known for his roles in many popular dramas and films, such as Netflix’s “Light the Night” and the film “Monga”. In order to interpret the trance and intermingled state of both human beings and ghosts, Wang Ke-yuan and Li Xing have spent much time in being made human replica and done special effect makeup. Both of them play excellently opposite Vaughn in the short film.