Competition

Grand Jury Fiction

For the fifth time in 2025, we will present the Grand Jury Fiction Award. Eight fiction films will be selected from the festival’s full film programme. These are films where cinematography and content go hand in hand. An international jury will declare the winner of €5,000.

Nominations

Anywhere Anytime

Issa is an undocumented immigrant from Senegal trying to survive in the bustling Italian city of Turin. He starts working as a food delivery courier, but his newfound stability unravels when his newly purchased bicycle is stolen during a drop-off. As he searches for it, Issa is sucked into a dramatic spiral of events. ...

The Garden of Earthly Delights

In the stormy slums of an Asian metropolis, 11-year-old Ginto fights for survival, dignity, and freedom. He dismisses his sister’s concerns—better to be a gangster than to scavenge from rubbish bins. As he grapples with his blossoming sexuality, identity and feelings for another boy, his path crosses that of Dutch tour...

Happy Holidays

Four intertwined stories of two families: one Israeli and the other Palestinian, caught in secrecy. Small lies escalate into a reckoning, exposing the fragile balance between tradition, ambition, and family duty. As one lie unravels another, the characters must face their greatest fear: the truth.  Fifi, a university s...

Surveillance camera footage captures students and tracks them with an identification code

Happyend

In a future Tokyo, where the threat of a major earthquake is ever-present, two mischievous best friends are about to graduate from high school. One night, they pull a prank on the principal, but it has serious consequences: the school installs a surveillance system to monitor everyone. Best friends Yuta and Kou are ab...

A young girl with curly hair sits in a lush green jungle, while a man in the background appears to be guiding her on a journey.

Manas

Deep in the Amazon, 13-year-old Tielle grows up with dreams fueled by the departure of her older sister. To her, this escape symbolizes a chance at a better life. But as she grows older, her idealism begins to waver, and she discovers the harsh reality of her surroundings. A raw yet powerful story about a young woman w...

Red Path

Mghila Mountain, Tunisia, November 2015. When jihadists attack two young shepherds, 13-year-old Achraf is forced to bring a gruesome message to the villagers. Traumatized and trying not to lose his mind, Achraf needs to stand strong, confronted with the helplessness of his elders, themselves abandoned by the authoritie...

Two women stand behind a woman wearing a pink shirt in a softly lit room. Books and decor are visible in the background.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Iman is an investigative judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. As the Iranian anti-hijab protests explode, he clashes with his wife and daughters. And then his gun mysteriously disappears, making him grapple with mistrust and paranoia.   Iman is an ambitious lawyer who has just been promoted at the Revolutionary ...

Three Kilometres to the End of the World

In a small Romanian village, Dragoi, a devout family man, owes a sizable debt to local gangster Zentov. When his 17-year-old son, Adi, is viciously attacked by Zentov’s sons, Dragoi assumes it’s a warning to settle his dues. However, he uncovers a far more harrowing truth—Adi was not targeted over his father’s debts, b...

Jury

Edison Vara

Mariette Rissenbeek

Longtime experience in distribution and production in Germany, 16 years of international marketing and festival experience at German Films - General Manager of the Berlinale for the past 5 years.

Christopher Zalla

Christopher Zalla is an American film writer, director, and producer. His most recent film, RADICAL, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Festival Favorite Award. Radical won seven more Audience Awards and several Grand Jury Prizes at other international film festivals, before becoming the highest grossing drama in Mexican box office history. Mr. Zalla’s first feature , SANGRE DE MI SANGRE (originally titled PADRE NUESTRO), won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Zalla has taught Directing at Columbia University’s Graduate Film School, where he previously received an MFA with Honors in Directing. Before Columbia, Mr. Zalla served as the Assistant to legendary independent Film Producer Cary Woods (SCREAM, SWINGERS, KIDS, CITIZEN RUTH).

Thomas van Son

Thomas van Son graduated from the Amsterdam University of the Arts in 2017 and has been working for the Dutch Academy For Film as a policy and program officer since 2020. At DAFF he is responsible for, among other things, membership recruitment, the various activities for members and the Golden Calf Competition. Until December 2022, Thomas was affiliated with the Dutch Film Festival as coordinator of the international Holland Film Meeting program. Before that and to this day, starting at International Theater Amsterdam and Family Affair Films, he has worked as a freelance program maker, project leader, editor and production manager at Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Arno Schuitemaker, De Authors Union and Netwerk Scenariowriters, among others.