Category: BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – ARFF BERLIN 2026

Original Film Title: THE RESONANCE

Director’s Name: Emir Mavitan

Director of Photography: Alican Akgün

Writer’s Name: Emir Mavitan

Producer: Melis Merdan

Country of Origin: Türkiye

Country of Filming: Türkiye

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes 57 seconds

Film Description:

“The Resonance” emerges as a fashion film that translates Solfeggio frequencies – believed since ancient times to harmonize the mind, body, and spirit – into the visual language of contemporary cinema. The film narrates the character’s inner transformation in chapters, each built around one of six fundamental frequencies, each representing a distinct emotional state.

Starring Tuba Ünsal, The Resonance journeys through an emotional spectrum ranging from 396 Hz to 852 Hz, embodying stages of fear, flow, passion, connection, renewal, and rebirth through physical performance and choreographic expression. Sound waves act as an invisible architectural force, shaping the character’s internal odyssey.

The film not only offers a visual narrative but also immerses the audience in a world where they can feel the vibration of each frequency through 360 – degree sound design. The Resonance presents a poetic exploration that repositions sound as an aesthetic medium, transforming the relationship between emotion and vibration into a cinematic investigation.

Original Film Title: ALEX SÜD

Director’s Name: Bongani Baloyi, Botlhale Boikanyo

Director of Photography: Bongani Baloyi

Writer’s Name: Bongani Baloyi, Dennis Ngango

Producer: Lerato Mokoka, Dennis Ngango

Country of Origin: South Africa

Country of Filming: South Africa

Language: English, German, Tswana

Runtime: 9 minutes 16 seconds

Film Description:

ALEX SÜD follows Mme Selina, a former elite task-force operative who disappeared from the world she once served after becoming a state witness in Germany. Years later, she lives quietly in Alexandra with her young daughter, determined to build a normal life far from the violence and secrets of her past. But when shadows from her old life resurface and threaten the only family she has left, Selina is forced back into survival mode. The story unfolds in a single continuous take, immersing the audience in her desperate race through the township as she confronts the ghosts she thought she had escaped. Blending raw emotion with relentless tension, ALEX SÜD is a powerful story about resilience, identity, and a mother’s determination to protect what matters most.

Original Film Title: Sleep

Director’s Name: Nicolas Heinzel

Director of Photography: Nicolas Heinzel

Writer’s Name: Miriam Becker

Producer: Nicolas Heinzel

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 22 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

Every night, a witch comes for Jennifer. Born from a bedtime story her parents once told, the witch returns each night to ensure Jennifer is asleep. Only sleep, or the presence of a person who isn’t haunted by the witch can protect her.
Two years after her parents death, Jennifer lives alone, trapped between grief and fear. Her boyfriend, the only one who knows about the witch, has left for a work trip, and Jennifer senses he will not return. Desperate for protection, she invites Liz, an old school friend she last saw at the funeral, to stay for the weekend.
As night falls, Liz notices Jennifer’s rigid routines and mounting panic. When the truth is revealed, Jennifer must decide how far she is willing to go to survive.

Original Film Title: Marius

Director’s Name: Paule Porter

Director of Photography: Paule Porter

Writer’s Name: Paule Porter

Producer: Paule Porter

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 11 minutes 27 seconds

Film Description:

Seventeen-year-old Marius spends his days drifting between friendship and the quiet longing to belong. When he joins a group of older youths, the night takes a dark turn. What begins as drinking and teasing escalates into humiliation and violence, exposing the thin line between peer pressure and cruelty. Marius tells the story of a teenager caught in a spiral of right-wing hatred and raises a haunting question: how many tragedies could be prevented if silence turned into action?