Category: ARFF Amsterdam 2024

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The Unstealable Bike – dir. Rozh Surchi

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Original Film Title: The Unstealable Bike

Director’s Name: Rozh Surchi

Writer’s Name: Rozh Surchi

Producer: Rozh Surchi

Country of Origin: Netherlands

Country of Filming: Netherlands

Language: Dutch

Runtime: 14 minutes 5 seconds

Film Description:

A stylistic mockumentary that unveils the intriguing life of Floris, a renowned figure on Amsterdam’s streets for his bike-stealing prowess. In a city where 80,000 bikes vanish yearly, Floris emerges as a key player in this clandestine cycle. However, he’s not alone – the market thrives on stolen bikes. Through deadpan humour and unexpected revelations, Floris provides a unique insight into the intricate gears that keep Amsterdam’s bike theft machine in motion.

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Help me help you – dir. Stéphanie Sassen

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Original Film Title: Help me help you

Director’s Name: Stéphanie Sassen

Writer’s Name: Stéphanie Sassen

Producer: The Arctic University of Norway

Country of Origin: Belgium

Country of Filming: Namibia

Language: English, Other

Runtime: 35 minutes 28 seconds

Film Description:

Help me help you is about young people motivated to help in Namibia’s Kalahari Desert, a place that has attracted much outsider help for many decades. Armed with cameras and participatory video training given by an overseas NGO, a group of young Ju/’hoansi become activists. “It’s not good to sit without doing something”. As they are making a film on the roots of educational marginalisation, the film they are in weaves together joint challenges and contrasts good intentions with power dynamics.

The youngsters turn the camera on school children. The filmmaker turns the camera on the youngsters. Through a microphone, they are opening up a space to speak across generations and continents in their quest to help. But what does help mean?

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Lupita – dir. Angela Alvarado

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Original Film Title: Lupita

Director’s Name: Angela Alvarado

Writer’s Name: Angela Alvarado

Producer: Angela Alvarado

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 4 minutes 21 seconds

Film Description:

We all lose something, and today, young Luna searches for her dear friend Lupita.

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《 War and Peace of the 29Team 》- dir. Ma Wen ting

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Original Film Title: 《 War and Peace of the 29Team 》

Director’s Name: Ma Wen ting

Writer’s Name: Ma Wen ting

Producer: Ma Wen ting

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 21 minutes 47 seconds

Film Description:

The villagers living in Team 29 are Chinese and overseas Chinese who were expelled from Vietnam and returned to China during the Sino-Vietnamese conflict in 1978, and three generations tell their understanding of their cultural identity.

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Bottoms UP! – dir. Brandon Schwindt

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Original Film Title: Bottoms UP!

Director’s Name: Brandon Schwindt

Writer’s Name: Brandon Schwindt, Josh Lowe

Producer: Clayton Coblentz

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 20 minutes

Film Description:

‘Bottoms UP!’ follows Amelia, a world-weary proctologist, and her loyal dog as they inadvertently discover a portal to another dimension. Lost in a surreal A.I.-assisted rotoscope realm of classic-television-themed vignettes and eccentric characters, Amelia embarks on a whimsical quest to reunite with her beloved pet and escape the bizarre world of ‘Bottoms UP!’.

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Vita Nova – dir. Dmytro Zavora

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Original Film Title: Vita Nova

Director’s Name: Dmytro Zavora

Writer’s Name: Josef Reding

Producer: Dmytro Zavora

Country of Origin: Ukraine

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: English

Runtime: 7 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

“Vita Nova,” a short film by Dmytro Zavora, is a moving animated drama based on a story by German author Josef Reding. Set in post-war Germany, the film follows a man who visits a pharmacy with the intent to buy poison to end his life. As he stands at the counter, his indecision leads him to reflect on his circumstances and the potential reasons to continue living. Through this 7-minute narrative, the film explores themes of despair, resilience, and the search for hope amid adversity

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Mirage – dir. Hanson Ma, Jeffrey Su, Michael Wang

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Original Film Title: Mirage

Director’s Name: Devin Peters, Jeffrey Su, Michael Wang

Writer’s Name: Jennifer Li

Producer: Hanson Ma

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 2 minutes 26 seconds

Film Description:

A tale of love unfolds between two individuals from opposite social classes, revealing the struggle to overcome societal boundaries in their quest for happiness and love.

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Dear Child I – dir. Devin Peters

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Original Film Title: Dear Child I

Director’s Name: Devin Peters

Writer’s Name: Chris Hedges

Producer: Ben McFarlane, Christian Dyson

Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates

Country of Filming: United Arab Emirates

Language: English

Runtime: 1 minute 11 seconds

Film Description:

Dear Child I, written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Chris Hedges takes the viewer on an uncompromising journey into the life of a child living under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. The film intentionally challenges the viewer to look at their own actions during the bloodshed, while also hinting at a possible hopeful future.

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Judy’s Garden – dir. Evie Metz

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Original Film Title: Judy’s Garden

Director’s Name: Evie Metz

Writer’s Name: Evie Metz, Nick Daly

Producer: Evie Metz

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 7 minutes

Film Description:

In Judy’s Garden, a woman is confronted by death and taken on a journey through her past. The garden is shown as a cosmic arena of continuous death and renewal, one which all living things, including the gardener herself, are a part of. The film is an ode to these cycles in the natural world and a meditation on what it means to be alive.

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Fiego and the Magic Fish – dir. Joe Murray

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Original Film Title: Fiego and the Magic Fish

Director’s Name: Joe Murray

Writer’s Name: Joseph Murray

Producer: Joe Murray

Country of Origin: Belgium

Country of Filming: Belgium

Language: English

Runtime: 11 minutes 17 seconds

Film Description:

A happily married Italian fisherman named Fiego catches a magic fish and makes wishes to give his wife the good life. A reimagining of the German fairytale “The Fisherman and his Wife”