Category: BEST ACTRESS & ACTORS AWARD – ARFF Amsterdam 2026

Original Film Title: The Acting Coach

Director’s Name: Ingvill Thorson Plesner

Writer’s Name: Ingvill Thorson Plesner

Producer: Ingvill Thorson Plesner

Country of Origin: Norway

Country of Filming: Norway

Language: English

Runtime: 18 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

The background story in the short film “The Acting Coach” is inspired by aspects of the life of the recently deceased actor André Landzaat, who also plays the lead role (making this the last film he recorded). However, the film’s plot is fictional, and the themes it addresses—reconciliation and shared humanity—are universal.

Original Film Title: We are Never Alone

Director’s Name: Michel Pascal

Writer’s Name: Michel Pascal, Gabriella Wright

Producer: Michel Pascal, Gabriella Wright

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Nepal, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes

Film Description:

Gabriella, a Mother and meditation teacher for prisoners, comes back from work on a “normal day” and finds her 16 year old son hanging in his room.

Life changed in an instant.

But why? How can we explain the suicide of a child without any apparent problems? He had no mental health issues. He had good social relations at school, good friends. But he longed for something he did not have- his inner peace. Did he think he’d find eternity, freedom after life?

Gabriella wants to understand what was going on in her son’s mind. Through Michael Beckwith, she finds answers to all the most difficult questions. How to explain suicide, how to detect suicide? How can we keep living afterward, and is it possible to transform the pain? How?

His answers are a fascinating bridge between ancient wisdom and the latest scientific discoveries. Michael Beckwith’s part in the film is not acting – he opens all his heart and shares his wisdom with a universal simplicity accessible to all audiences.

Original Film Title: Yoga Girl

Director’s Name: Kaitlyn Furey

Writer’s Name: Kaitlyn Furey

Producer: Kaitlyn Furey, Liz Spruell

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 9 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

A woman struggles to stay committed to her daily wellness rituals while on the brink of a mental breakdown.

Original Film Title: cuck

Director’s Name: Max Lebow

Writer’s Name: Max Lebow

Producer: Max Lebow

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Greece, Netherlands

Language: English

Runtime: 13 minutes 13 seconds

Film Description:

A filmmaker in self-imposed exile turns the camera on himself in order to confront the failures of his past, his deep-seated insecurities, and reclaim his creative voice. cuck is a hybrid, performative self-portrait that aims to dissect masculinity and individualism through the lens of radical vulnerability.

Original Film Title: From the Midnight Sun to Eternity

Director’s Name: Paola Ivana Suhonen

Writer’s Name: Paola Ivana Suhonen

Producer: Olli M. Happonen

Country of Origin: Finland

Country of Filming: Finland

Language: No Dialogue

Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes

Film Description:

A lovestory, a roadtrip and a betrayal- under the eternal Midnight sun in Finland. This is a roadtrip never to forget.

Original Film Title: Midori Osaka’s After 5 Routine’ Routine1 walk in the future

Director’s Name: Takayuki Takenobu, Kenta Ichii

Writer’s Name: Takayuki Takenobu

Producer: Takayuki Takenobu , Kenta Ichii

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: No Dialogue

Runtime: 1 minute 25 seconds

Film Description:

Midori Osaka, an ordinary office worker, encounters mysterious events every day on her way home from work.
The first episode of a sci-fi short movie series.

Original Film Title: Broken Glass

Director’s Name: Kirunthuja Srikanth-Talim

Writer’s Name: Kirunthuja Srikanth-Talim

Producer: Kirunthuja Srikanth-Talim

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 32 minutes 5 seconds

Film Description:

This film follows a woman as she navigates romantic relationships throughout her life. It begins with her first love at school and traces the evolving connections she encounters over the years. Told entirely without dialogue, the story unfolds through symbolism and metaphor, inviting the audience to imagine the settings and emotional landscapes for themselves—much like reading a book.

Original Film Title: At the Mercy of Faith

Director’s Name: Andrew Arguello

Writer’s Name: Samuel Lee Taylor

Producer: Samuel Lee Taylor

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 23 minutes 34 seconds

Film Description:

When a devout young preacher’s faith is shattered by a traumatic childhood tragedy, his attempts to rebuild his life as an adult are upended by haunting visions, supernatural warnings, and the reemergence of unresolved guilt, forcing him to confront the demons of his past… before they destroy his family.