Category: BEST DOCUMENTARY – ARFF PARIS 2026

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Year of Abundance

Director’s Name: Natasha Olive

Writer’s Name: Natasha Olive

Producer: Natasha Olive, Elisa Tura

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: Italy, United Kingdom

Language: English, Italian

Runtime: 38 minutes 40 seconds

Film Description:

The Year of Abundance follows James Wong as he travels across Italy at the end of 2025, in the wake of an unexpectedly abundant harvest. Through olive oil, wine and wheat, the film uncovers the landscapes, people and traditions that sustain Italian food culture. It is a portrait of the passion and craftsmanship behind the food we might often take for granted.

(Envısıon Award Winner)

Original Film Title: Back to town

Director’s Name: Djamel Lakehal

Writer’s Name: Djamel Lakehal

Producer: Djamel Lakehal

Country of Origin: Algeria

Country of Filming: Algeria

Language: Arabic, French

Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

At the Cafe des Arts, two young musicians dreaming of forming a rock band cross paths with two septuagenarians, founding members of The Play-Boys (1960′). From this unlikely meeting is born a vibrant exchange: the elders guide the novices, while the energy of youth rekindles in them the desire to return to the stage after half a century. Blending documentary and fiction, the film captures not only this improbable comeback, but also the pulse of a city that seems to have forgotten its artistic soul.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Dancing on the Edge

Director’s Name: Ruedi Leuthold, Beat Bieri

Writer’s Name: Ruedi Leuthold, Beat Bieri

Producer: Ruedi Leuthold, Beat Bieri

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Country of Filming: Cuba

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes 25 seconds

Film Description:

In Cuba, the economy is at a standstill. The government has lost all credibility, even among its own citicens. In Havana, a small dance troupe recalls the strength and energy that came to Cuba with the African slaves’ pantheon of gods. A rumba against giving up.

Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader, initially prohibited the Orishas, the deities of African slaves. Alexis Hernandez grew up in a family who mantained their African roots despite the prohibitions. In Ciego de Avila, his grandfather was a famous healer and Afro-Cuban spiritual leader. For Alexis, the drumming and dancing that invoked the powers of the Orishas were part of the rituals of his childhood. For a long period he lived in Switzerland, where he worked as a dance teacher and helped to fuel the salsa boom. But then he was drawn back to Cuba by a longing for his own roots. He arrived with his wife, Christa Akert, who was fascinated about the secrets hidden behind the light salsa steps.
In Havana, the two run a guesthouse, whose rooms remain empty. Tourism has collapsed, as has the local building stock. In the Vedado district, they run a cultural center that is open to the local population – with dance and capoeira against depression. The city is short of gasoline, medicine and food. With their own little dance troupe, Christa and Alexis celebrate the life force hidden in ancient drum sounds.
In Cuba, no one knows where the future will lead. In Switzerland, Christa and Alexis’ dance troupe has been invited to attend a folklore festival. Here, it reminds us that something remains when everything familiar collapses: The wealth of a culture marked by the art of survival. And the freedom to always keep moving.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: All In The Game

Director’s Name: Chris Amess

Writer’s Name: Chris Amess

Producer: Rishi Ghosh-Curling

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes 32 seconds

Film Description:

All In The Game is a powerful, visually striking feature documentary set in South London, following a rollercoaster season at Active Sports FC. It’s not a football fairytale — for these young players, the game is a lifeline in a world shaped by limited opportunities, knife crime and social pressure.

While the season brings plenty of drama on the pitch, the film really focuses on the personal stories, showing how much the game means in their lives beyond football.

It’s more than football – it’s survival, brotherhood, and hope.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Way It Was: PARIS RESTAURANTS IN THE 1970’S

Director’s Name: Stephen Karl Scher

Writer’s Name: Stephen Karl Scher

Producer: Stephen Karl Scher, Janie Pik-Chun Woo, James Frances Ivory

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: France

Language: English

Runtime: 44 minutes

Film Description:

A comprehensive view of the restaurant scene in Paris i the 1970’s at all levels with visits to markets and interviews with food writers, chefs, and restaurant owners.

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: KABUL, CITY OF DREAMS

Director’s Name: PAEMAN ARIANFAR

Writer’s Name: PAEMAN ARIANFAR

Producer: KAHINA BENYAHIA

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: Afghanistan

Language: Persian

Runtime: 23 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

Kabul, City of Dreams is a short documentary film that takes us into the lives of two young Kabulis, Nilab and Nader. Through the eyes of Paeman Arianfar, we discover how these two strong souls do not let themselves be defeated by any physical or social handicap. In this emblematic city of Afghanistan, before its capture by the Taliban, they make sure to overcome the difficulties that come their way. The film follows them over the course of a day, like the last day of freedom for Afghan youth before the night of the Taliban.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Emma

Director’s Name: Robert Barksy, Christian Johannes Hendriksz

Writer’s Name: Sandra Lee, Christian Johannes Hendriksz

Producer: Robert Barksy

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 14 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

A rare diagnosis, an unprecedented transplant, and a family’s unwavering love—Emma’s story shows the hope, anguish, and lasting legacy of a life measured not in years, but in impact.

Emma is the story of a family confronting an unforgiving rare disorder and their extraordinary journey to become among the first in the world to pursue bone marrow transplantation. It is a portrait of hope, anguish, and the profound truth that even short lives can leave an enduring impact.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Burning My Poems

Director’s Name: Zeqian Wang

Writer’s Name: Zeqian Wang

Producer: Zeqian Wang

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Runtime: 23 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description:

A man burns handwritten poems in a field.

He calls his son and waits as the line remains silent. Still, he speaks — describing the newly repaired roof, the freshly painted walls, the house prepared for a return. The camera lingers on domestic details that suggest care and continuation.

He writes again. He records himself reading his poems and uploads them online. He sings by the roadside at night. Pages are folded, carried, and burned.

Over time, his routine expands beyond the village. He travels to a courthouse to complete a legal procedure. Only then does the context surface: his son was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

He returns home. The cycle resumes — writing, sleeping, singing, calling, burning.

Without commentary or reconstruction, the film observes a father who continues a conversation that has never received an answer.

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: City of Dancers

Director’s Name: Mary Kent

Writer’s Name: Mary Kent

Producer: Mary Kent

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Colombia, United States

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 56 minutes 48 seconds

Film Description:

“City of Dancers” is a documentary about young people and adults who have found an alternative to drugs and gangs – as salsa dancers and competitors in the genre. This dance, which incorporates acrobatics, tribal elements, and is danced with great passion, is known as Salsa Caleña. We examine the impact of Salsa Dancing on an entire City and bask in the seductive music and world-class dancing performances.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Play pour rembobiner

Director’s Name: Laurent Notaro, Jean-Luc Rochat

Writer’s Name: Laurent Notaro, Jean-Luc Rochat

Producer: Zebra Prod

Country of Origin: Switzerland

Country of Filming: Switzerland

Language: French

Runtime: 52 minutes

Film Description:

An Immersion into the Life of ZebraProd, an association of amateur videographers
In the 1990s, video collectives formed in a context where audiovisual creation was becoming increasingly accessible. Lausanne (CH) was no exception, and the ZEBRA association was born. Within it, some thirty young filmmakers produced programs broadcast on TVRL (Lausanne Regional Television), with an ever-renewed passion.
30 years later, Daniel, Caroline, Fred, Izabela, and the others, still active in the field of cinema, share this part of their story with us. Their words bear witness to those moments when friendship, freedom of expression, and the originality of the subjects formed the fertile ground for joyful and committed creation. Their words mingle with archival images, revealing a unique heritage of visual experiences and narratives where collective creation opens doors and possibilities.