Category: BEST SHORT FILM ARFF Paris 2023

Original Film Title: Don’t Let Me Sink

Director’s Name: Vu Diep Mai

Writer’s Name: Vu Diep Mai

Producer: Vu Diep Mai

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 28 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

Lily has just lost her husband and son, Marcos and Lucas, and is left behind with her two year old daughter, Mia. She is a former heroin addict and after ten years of sobriety, she finds herself down the path of temptation again as she struggles with her grief. Deep down she knows that if she decides to push that needle, there is no coming back. Is her love for Mia and her strength as a mother enough to keep her from sinking?

Original Film Title: Sigara سيجارة

Director’s Name: Lama Naamneh

Writer’s Name: Lama Naamneh

Producer: Kwaless The House of Theatre and Cinema by Lama Naameneh, DO IT Advertising Agency by Samer Makalda

Country of Origin: Palestine, State of

Country of Filming: Palestine, State of

Language: Arabic

Runtime: 29 minutes 59 seconds

Film Description:

“SIGARA” / “Cigarette”
Private Youtube link to see “Cigarette” Movie Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN6UlpVl6z4&t=2s
A Documentary Filmmaker, a heavy smoker of marijuana cigarettes,Through his camera lens, we see the production of a film about his family, Six of his brothers (The Musician, The Politician, The Athlete, The Pupil, The Disable, The Educated) and one sister that cares about appearances, The Mother, and The Father.
They are all gathered in a house that is filled with conflict amongst them and within themselves.

To what degree will their differences escalate?!
And will the Film complete in the end?!

Original Film Title: moulded

Director’s Name: Ahmad Bakrin

Writer’s Name: Ahmad Bakrin

Producer: Kate Costanza, Siân Lathrop

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 6 seconds

Film Description:

Moulded is an independent short film, based on an unpublished story of the same name, written by Ananya Bhasin.

The short follows a young woman after she breaks up as she seeks self discovery through her art and inspiration found in other women.

Over the course of the short, the protagonist observes strangers who embody personal qualities she admires in them and desires for herself. She remembers them by a standout facial feature, and begins sculpting these features into a clay head as she sinks deeper into loneliness.

In the end, be it through magic, her imagination or however you choose to interpret it, the clay woman created from borrowed features comes to life, forcing our protagonist to see herself beyond what she’s tried to find in the mirror.

Original Film Title: A gyémánt út pora

Director’s Name: Zoltán Vámos

Writer’s Name: Sándor Sultz

Producer: Szilvia Garami

Country of Origin: Hungary

Country of Filming: Hungary

Language: Hungarian

Runtime: 29 minutes 34 seconds

Film Description:

It is a rare moment in our life, when we can open up to the other with total honesty, forgetting about the role we had shaped and practiced for ourselves, which is also expected by our environment. It is rare and dangerous. Especially in the case of a doctor, who must keep the distance with their patients. And now it still happens that this particular shield gets cracked for an hour. Perhaps because of his guilty conscience that in the everyday rush he cannot even pay proper attention to his own mother. The case of Madame Vilma seems to be some kind of lapse for him, but it is not. One thing is certain, the lady’s secret remains a secret. She took it where her husband is waiting for her in the Wartburg, where they fly together on the “diamond dust of golden highways”.

Original Film Title: Bad Vintage: A Randy Tale

Director’s Name: Ben Élie

Writer’s Name: Ben Élie

Producer: Ben Élie

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 17 minutes 4 seconds

Film Description:

A magical realist comedy about romance in our times, family baggage, and a mischievous talking car. San Francisco Bay Area millennials Lenny and Quinn have a hot date; Randy the vintage love-bug steers them way off-course, and Trent is very upset about not being invited. It’s a “check yourself before you wreck yourself” trip where everybody learns a little something about how to get along.

Original Film Title: 780 square feet

Director’s Name: Audreyanne Fauchon

Writer’s Name: Audreyanne Fauchon

Producer: Audreyanne Fauchon

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: French

Runtime: 8 minutes 49 seconds

Film Description:

Rosalie and Nicolas just broke up after more than four years together. Rosalie decides to move out of their apartment. As they decide who keeps each item of furniture, we get to have a look at the couple’s relationship since they moved in. The reason for their breakup is revealed once they reach the final item on the list.