Category: ARRF Paris 2023

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The Group – dir. Venu Yeldandi

Original Film Title: Balagam

Director’s Name: Venu Yeldandi

Writer’s Name: Venu Yeldandi

Producer: Harshith Reddy, Hanshitha Reddy

Country of Origin: India

Country of Filming: India

Language: Telugu

Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes

Film Description:

Komurayya, an old man living in a Telangana (India) village, is a jovial figure who wakes up early in the morning, greets everyone and works on his farm. He has three children – two sons, Aillaya and Mogilayya and a daughter, Lakshmi. But his family is no longer the same. His grandson Saayilu, a bright but self-centered youngster, decides to get married to clear his debts with the dowry he gets. Komurayya’s death just before the engagement changes the course of his life and the family members, rattling some skeletons in the closet. The family’s post funeral pinda (riceball) ritual, attended by the whole village, shows that the old man’s soul is unsatisfied with something when the crows refrain from eating the offerings. Will the family sort out their differences, figure out the old man’s wishes and free the departed soul?

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The Godfather Buck – dir. Thomas J. Churchill

Original Film Title: The Godfather Buck

Director’s Name: Thomas J. Churchill

Writer’s Name: Frederick Keeve

Producer: Frederick Keeve, Thomas J. Churchill

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes 26 seconds

Film Description:

Two brothers, who meet once a year at a cabin in the
woods in Big Bear to hunt white-tailed deer for a week, uncover
hidden family secrets and lies when their stepbrother drops by for
an evening, changing the lives of the brothers forever.

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MINGMING – dir. 荣欣 张

Original Film Title: MINGMING

Director’s Name: 荣欣 张

Writer’s Name: 荣欣 张

Producer: 剑莹 陈

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 21 minutes 56 seconds

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The two brothers and Santa Claus – dir. Gabriel Tibi

Original Film Title: Les deux frères et le Père Noël

Director’s Name: Gabriel Tibi

Writer’s Name: Morgan Cini, Gabriel Tibi

Producer: Gabriel Tibi

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: French

Runtime: 20 minutes

Film Description:

As Christmas Eve approaches, Léo, a naïve 7-year-old kid, searches for evidence to prove that Santa Claus really exists.
His older brother, Kevin, tries to prove him wrong.

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Uprooted – dir. Andzej Gavriss

Original Film Title: Uprooted

Director’s Name: Andzej Gavriss

Writer’s Name: Andzej Gavriss, Konstantin Koval, Rick Dodds

Producer: Blake Powell, Thomas Bartl, Marc Haferbusch

Country of Origin: Ukraine

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: English, Ukrainian

Runtime: 2 minutes 40 seconds

Film Description:

Displacement crisis has reached 100 million people globally. 60+ Ukrainian refugees were involved in making the film, sending a message of support to all refugees. The film focuses on the PTSD that people experience after fleeing the war.

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Above Us – dir. Pierre Fittante

Original Film Title: Au-dessus de Nous

Director’s Name: Pierre Fittante

Writer’s Name: Nina Audoubert, Enzo Galinié, Jonathan Douarre, Emilie Ferbu

Producer: Yann Serra, Valentin Gauthier

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: France

Language: French

Runtime: 11 minutes 57 seconds

Film Description:

In a world where the rain never stops falling, a famous inspector in
end of career investigates a series of occult murders while preparing his young colleague to take over.

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Hide and Seek – dir. Julia Annabel Siedenburg

Original Film Title: Hide and Seek

Director’s Name: Julia Annabel Siedenburg

Writer’s Name: Julia Annabel Siedenburg

Producer: Annette Bedrossian-Liewer

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 12 seconds

Film Description:

A trouble-minded man seeks help from his old therapist
and learns he has to decide whether he can fight against his
urges or give in.

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CEPHALOPODS, CONQUEST OF THE SEAS – dir. Bertrand Loyer

Original Film Title: CEPHALOPODS, CONQUEST OF THE SEAS

Director’s Name: Bertrand Loyer

Writer’s Name: Bertrand Loyer

Producer: Bertrand Loyer

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: Australia, Brazil, France, Philippines, United States

Language: English, French

Runtime: 52 minutes

Film Description:

Populations of cephalopods (the extensive mollusc family that includes cuttlefish, squid, and octopuses) are currently undergoing an explosion. Travel around the world, from the abyssal trenches to remote coral reefs, to unveil the secrets of their success.

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SEARCHING: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science – dir. Geoff Haines-Stiles

Original Film Title: SEARCHING: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science

Director’s Name: Geoff Haines-Stiles

Writer’s Name: Geoff Haines-Stiles, Alan Lightman

Producer: Erna Akuginow

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: France, Italy, Switzerland, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes 48 seconds

Film Description:

How is it possible that falling in love, feeling connected to nature, and experiences of awe and wonder, can all arise from the material atoms of our bodies? Can science explain such complex human experiences? Can a computer achieve consciousness? And what does it mean to be human in a world of increasing science and technology? In “SEARCHING: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science,” physicist and novelist Alan Lightman (Einstein’s Dreams) embarks on a journey across time and space to ponder these questions. In the course of his odyssey, he speaks with Nobel-prize winning scientists, leading ethicists and philosophers, faith leaders (including the Dalai Lama), a paralyzed ex-gang member who was the first person to have computer chips implanted in an area of his brain that allowed him to move a robotic arm by pure thought, and even an advanced humanoid android named BINA48, one of the few African-American AI’s.

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The Muse – dir. Max Karpylev

Original Film Title: The Muse

Director’s Name: Max Karpylev

Writer’s Name: Max Karpylev

Producer: Ivan Zabolotsky

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Russian Federation

Language: Russian

Runtime: 49 minutes

Film Description:

Once successful novelist Mark is fighting for his sanity struggling to finish his book. Mark explores his difficult relations with his father and the sense of fear as an enemy of creativity. Will Mark sacrifice himself to finish his book on time?