AAFF PRESENTS

elephant 

After witnessing a murder of a young boy by a cop on her doorstep, Maria finds her mental health struggling. At thirty-seven, violence and death compound into a fear of the outside. As she self-isolates, she unpacks individual, collective, and generational trauma, her beloved community keeps her connected with frequent care visits. Directed by Maria Judice
 

The short film Freshwater by Detroit native dream hampton will immediately precede the screening of elephant.

Archipelago 

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A true animated film about invented islands. About a physical, imaginary, linguistic, political territory. About a real or dreamed country, or something in between. Archipelago is a feature film made of drawings and speeches that tells and dreams a place and its inhabitants, to tell and dream a little of our world and times. Directed by Felix Dufour-Laperrière.

What We Shared 

Seven inhabitants of a de facto state on the Black Sea unfurl a web of stories about loss and displacement through the re-imaginings of dreams and memories of the 1992-93 war in Abkhazia. What We Shared employs emotive soundscape and imagery to produce a sensory reflection on artistic practice as a powerful binding force and an act of resistance to dominant power structures. Directed by Kamila Kuc.

Shari | Winner: Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film

​The Shiretoko Peninsula is a special place, located in the northernmost part of Japan where rare, wild animals coexist with humans and drift ice reaches its coast touching the Sea of Okhotsk in winter. But for some reason, there is very little snow in the winter of 2020. The drift ice hasn’t appeared yet, either. Directed by Nao Yoshigai

Looking for Horses | Winner: Best Documentary 

 

A film about a friendship between the filmmaker and a fisherman. One lost his mother tongue because of a stutter, the other lost his hearing during the Bosnian civil war. They look for ways to communicate, while the camera mediates their growing bond. Directed by Stefan Pavlović

Fragile 

 

You're in a great rush, to go to that fuss, to spend eight hours alienating, but you already do that from Monday to Friday and at the Club, you’re the one paying. Directed by Pedro Henrique

Rising Sun Blues (Rua Dos Anjos) | Winner: Eileen Maitland Award

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Rising Sun Blues is a film built upon the encounter and shared film creation of two women. They narrate and witness personal stories while exchanging certain techniques of their respective crafts: sex work and filmmaking. In this scenario, they simultaneously become filmmakers and characters. Directed by Renata Ferraz and Maria Roxo