Category: ARFF PARIS 2026

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: CLASSE LIBRE

Director’s Name: AMBROISE SABBAGH

Writer’s Name: AMBROISE SABBAGH

Producer: MATHILDE RENWICK

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming : France

Language: French

Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes 37 seconds

Film Description:

In a few hours, sixteen apprentice actors will perform their final show. For two years, they have acted, dreamed, doubted, laughed, and cried together, becoming a family. Tonight, they part ways, closing before our eyes the chapter of a tumultuous youth. The last glimmers of childhood, if these really do ever disappear.

(WINNER)

Original Film Title: The Silence of the World

Director’s Name: Angelo Vapellari, Nicolas Pastergue

Writer’s Name: Angelo Vapellari

Producer: Alexandre Kalouguine, Angelo Vapellari

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming : France

Language: French

Runtime: 19 minutes 48 seconds

Film Description:

Leïla raises her autistic son, Kahil, alone. Exhausted. Isolated. Abandoned by school. Shunned by institutions. No way out. She leaves him with Bojan. The father he’s never known. Bojan lives on the margins. Helping an old shepherd. Fixing engines. Overhauling small planes at a country airfield. Kahil arrives. Bojan freezes. Stiff. Thrown into a situation he didn’t choose. Not ready. The day moves on. Water. Machines. Repeated gestures. Silence. Slowly, a connection emerges. Fragile. Threatened. But real.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Bounty Uncharted: Empire of The Atlantic

Director’s Name: Jeff Ragovin

Writer’s Name: Jeff Ragovin

Director Of Photography: Michael A Cuomo

Producer: Michael A Cuomo

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming : United States

Language: English

Runtime: 14 minutes 39 seconds

Film Description:

Empire of the Atlantic is a short documentary that captures a rare ecological convergence unfolding off the coast of Montauk. As the warming Gulf Stream pushes farther north, ancient migratory patterns are shifting in real time. Humpback and minke whales, bluefin tuna, striped bass, bluefish, and cownose rays gather in unprecedented abundance—turning the Atlantic into a living crossroads of ocean life.

Filmed entirely from the air, the project uses drone cinematography to reveal the ocean as it is seldom seen: vast, kinetic, and intricately connected. What emerges is both a celebration and a record—an awe-driven portrait of movement, scale, and survival at a moment of environmental transformation.

Produced by entrepreneur Jeff Ragovin and Bounty Uncharted Productions, Empire of the Atlantic invites viewers to witness the raw power of the sea while reconsidering humanity’s relationship to a rapidly changing marine world.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: Treu (Faithful)

Director’s Name: Hansjoerg Thurn

Writer’s Name: Katrin Wiegand

Producer: Anthony Arndt

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 14 minutes 3 seconds

Film Description:

A woman wakes up in a bed she doesn’t know and seems to be trapped by a man twice her age. She tries to escape, but after a wild getaway, she saves herself back in the same house she escaped from. An older version of her speaks to her from a computer. Only then does she realize that she is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is actually the same age as the man who is her husband. She remembers the early years of their relationship, when they were both famous actors on stage. TREU depicts the disorientation of a woman with dementia and the mental imprisonment of her caring partner. This short film focuses on the suffering of the husband (Anthony Arndt) and his wife (Annika Kuhl) in a tense atmosphere. The film has already won awards at many festivals. This short film is also going on a charity tour of international cinemas.

(FINALIST)

Original Film Title: A Dream In the Sahā World

Director’s Name: Sabrina REN

Writer’s Name: Sabrina REN

Producer: Sabrina REN

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: China, Mexico, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 9 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

A song based on my personal ayahuasca journeys and Tibetan Buddhist meditation study

(HONORABLE MENTION)

Original Film Title: The Handbag

Director’s Name: Marion H von Loewenstern

Writer’s Name: Marion H von Loewenstern

Producer: Marion H von Loewenstern

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: English

Runtime: 32 minutes 6 seconds

Film Description:

Two women discover their joint passion for adventurous journeys and they decide to share a trip on a motorcycle.
The tour catapults the viewer through a maelstrom of occurrences.
It remains unclear what is reality and what is due to the effect of the mysterious observer on their experience.