Category: Best Film Score & Sound Design – ARFF Amsterdam 2026

Original Film Title: Damned If I Do

Director’s Name: Jeffery Arnett Thompson JR

Writer’s Name: Jeffery Arnett Thompson JR, Jacqueline Creola Horton

Producer: Jacqueline Creola Horton, Jeffery Arnett Thompson JR

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 35 minutes 31 seconds

Film Description:

Juan Garcia is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, newly smuggled into the United States. His only desire is to provide a life for his daughter back home. Juan has the misfortune of renting a motel room next door to a serial killer who preys on women. Once Juan is aware of his neighbor’s nefarious activities, he’s faced with an important decision. Call the police and get deported, or take matters into his own hands. In addition, the killer has a secret identity that increases the risk and consequences of Juan’s decision.

Original Film Title: TREE OF PEACE

Director’s Name: Alex Afshar

Writer’s Name: Alex Afshar

Producer: Anette Sundqvist, Rasha Khoury

Country of Origin: Sweden

Country of Filming: Sweden

Language: Swedish

Runtime: 53 minutes 29 seconds

Film Description:

A young girl, from a war-torn country has the dream of creating world peace despite the skepticism of those around her. Will she be able to fulfill this impossible mission in this dark world where everyone has lost hope for humanity or will it remain just a dream?

Original Film Title: The Line Between Us

Director’s Name: Yijian(Jason) Jiang

Writer’s Name: Yijian(Jason) Jiang

Producer: Baiwen Xu

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 6 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

On the coast, Li, a Chinese immigrant clinging to the ritual of fishing with his late wife’s red-ribboned rod, has his solitude shattered when a troubled boy steals it—an unexpected encounter that forces him to confront loss, and opens the possibility of connection with young generation.

Original Film Title: Bark and Bone

Director’s Name: Matthew Barrie Bryan Viljoen

Writer’s Name: Matthew Barrie Bryan Viljoen

Producer: Matthew Barrie Bryan Viljoen

Country of Origin: New Zealand

Country of Filming: New Zealand

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes

Film Description:

A grumpy skeletons peaceful retirement is upended when a playful stray dog steals his arm.

Original Film Title: The Box

Director’s Name: Dan Perry

Writer’s Name: Steve Wraith

Producer: Steve Wraith

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 7 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

The boxes that define our lives are in everything we see and we do. Good or bad, safe or not, all of our lives are defined by a box in some manner.

Centred around a hard hitting and eclectic poem by Steve Wraith, The Box showcases all of the boxes that shape a young man’s life from birth to death.

Original Film Title: Surviving Biafra: Voices from the Nigerian Civil War

Director’s Name: Meji Alabi, Leke Alabi-Isama

Writer’s Name: Meji Alabi, Leke Alabi-Isama

Producer: Charlie Northcott

Country of Origin: Nigeria, United Kingdom

Country of Filming: Nigeria

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes

Film Description:

Surviving Biafra is a feature documentary directed by Meji Alabi and Leke Alabi-Isama, exploring the Nigerian Civil War through the eyewitness accounts of those who survived it. As the grandson and son of Godwin Alabi-Isama, the filmmakers combine rare archives, unseen frontline photographs, and deeply personal testimonies to uncover a history long buried and rarely taught to younger generations.

Original Film Title: The City

Director’s Name: Rayne York

Writer’s Name: Rayne York

Producer: Rayne York

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 15 minutes 4 seconds

Film Description:

The City is a series of vignettes that take place in New York City over the course of a year. With no intervention from the crew, all moments captured were completely random and unscripted. An emotive orchestral score guides audiences across the seasons as they traverse the streets of New York for what feels like the very first time.

Original Film Title: Horror Tale For Night Fantasies

Director’s Name: Gregory Golub

Writer’s Name: Gregory Golub

Producer: Gregory Golub

Country of Origin: Israel

Country of Filming: Israel

Language: English

Runtime: 1 minute 2 seconds

Film Description:

Horror Tale for Night Fantasies is a one-minute experimental psychological horror short built around an original score, where music and image work together as storytelling elements. Through minimalist imagery and evolving visual language, the film explores the psychology of fear.