AFF Online

A FOREST ONCE STOOD HERE!

Valentin Anghel · 68 min

A community fights to save IOR Park from real estate interests in Bucharest, discovering how difficult it is to protect one of the city's beloved parks.

THE EXPORTED: THE DARK TRADE OF THE COLD WAR

Pierre Goetschel · 60 min

In communist Romania, the sale of Jewish and Transylvanian Saxon citizens was an officially sanctioned form of human trafficking. The Romanian state secretly negotiated their freedom in exchange for money, goods, and political advantages.

CHILD TRAFFICKING

Olivier Ballande · 57 min

A team of French investigators tracks a criminal network from Iași that exploits minors involved in pickpocketing in central Paris. An investigation into a system where children are turned into tools of organized crime.

STEPS IN SILENCE

Fariz Ahmadov · 72 min

In Karabakh, an all-female team demines land contaminated by war.

TECHPLOMACY

Susanne Kovács · 93 min

At 33, Denmark’s female tech ambassador takes on Silicon Valley’s giants, fighting for digital rights before their power outruns democracy.

CONFESSIONS OF A MOLE

Mo Tan · 92 min

After seven years in Poland, Mo returns to China, caught between the independent life she wants as a director and a family convinced that the mole beneath her eye brings bad luck.

A FIRE THERE

Marlene Edoyan · 94 min

In an isolated village in Georgia, three young Armenians seek freedom between the pressure of tradition and the threat of war. Some dream of Tbilisi or Moscow, while others remain trapped in the past.

THE GOLDEN SWAN

Anette Ostrø · 88 min

In poems secretly written during five weeks as a hostage in Kashmir, Hans Christian leaves his sister a path back to his final journey—and to the man he was.

UNCONDITIONAL?

Frank de Rooij · 71 min

A famous Dutch psychiatrist attempts to rebuild his relationship with his son, a comedian who transforms painful childhood experiences into performances. In the process, he discovers how difficult true unconditional acceptance can be.

CONFESSIONS OF A SWEDISH MAN

Hampus Linder · 96 min

What happens when a self-proclaimed feminist enters the manosphere determined to listen rather than judge? As a Swedish filmmaker and single father participates in its startling rituals, his investigation becomes a confrontation with his own masculinity—and with the question of how to raise a son.

HOW TO TALK TO LYDIA​

Rusudan Gaprindashvili · 72 min

A young man from the Republic of Moldova works in a vast logistics center in Germany, where people are guided step by step by the voice of an artificial intelligence called Lydia.

ALL THAT WE SAY TO EACH OTHER

Anton AUGSTEN, Lea El Attal · 29 min

A young woman increasingly turns to ChatGPT for advice related to her life and emotional struggles. As their conversations become more personal, the boundary between help and dependence begins to blur.

WHERE SILENCE IS HEARD

Gabriela Pena, Picho García · 94 min

Gabriela returns to her family’s abandoned home in Chile, hoping that repairing its rooms will help her uncover a past shaped by dictatorship and exile.

TOTAL LIFE FOREVER

Sebastian Molina Ruiz · 19 min

Far from home, people from different corners of the world struggle to find their place in a Europe where no one seems to speak the same language. Between dreams and memories, they continue searching for a way back home.

THE BLACK BLIZZARD

Mira Erkenova · 34 min

In Norilsk, an isolated city in northern Siberia, a relentless blizzard shows no sign of ending. Pavel is released after 15 years in prison, while the police face a growing number of cases involving children.

AN AWESOME FLAT

Gabriela Isabel Gómez de Arteche Núñez, Alejandra Llorens, Daniel Pérez Valderrama, Camila de Lucas, Jaime Marqués Cordero · 17 min

A real estate agent shows the same bright and cozy 20-square-metre apartment to a series of prospective tenants. With each viewing, the promise of the perfect home gives way to the reality of an increasingly difficult housing search.

HERE, ELSEWHERE

Comes Chahbazian · 66 min

How does the dynamics of a family caught in a siege change in 2023? Built from footage shot by a father filming his family in their own home, the film becomes a video journal about how love and hope endure in the midst of war.

TRACES

Marysia Nikitiuk, Alisa Kovalenko · 82 min

War is not fought with weapons alone; sexual violence by aggressors in occupied territories is a widespread form of assault. How can abused Ukrainian women overcome these war-inflicted traumas?

SIGNS FROM BELOW

Maude Vuillez · 22 min

Diagnosed as deaf at the age of two, a young woman grows up between the hearing world and the Deaf world. As she searches for her identity, she tries to find her place between the two worlds.

LENIN’S PAWN

Dragoș Turea · 84 min

On the eve of Moldova’s accession to the European Union, the country confronts its Soviet past. Actor Sergiu Voloc attacks Lenin statues, attempting to awaken a collective consciousness.

SO LONG SINCE I’VE KNOWN A SPRING

Alexandra Bidian · 91 min

A former political prisoner from Sibiu who emigrated to Germany dreamed of becoming Romania’s president after the fall of communism. Years later, his daughter revisits his life through archives and personal memories.

BLESSED

Voicu Mureșanu · 26 min

Mihaela Minca, renowned as the most powerful witch, is preparing to open the world's first school of witchcraft. Across the street, Ana Ibangiu, a single mother of three, is struggling to build a better life for her family joining her witchcraft school.

SILENT FLOOD

Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk · 90 min

On the banks of the Ukrainian Dniester, a pacifist religious community tries to preserve its way of life as floods return and war reaches its quiet village.

A TRAIN PASSES EVERY DAY AND IT NEVER STOPS

Vlad Petri · 65 min

In an isolated village in Bistrița-Năsăud, a death brings people together, while songs, rituals and conversations reveal a community where grief, humor and solidarity coexist in everyday life.

DAYS OF WONDER

Karin Pennanen · 88 min

Karin reconstructs the life of her late uncle from the art and recordings he left behind. Through his thoughts on filmmaking, Markku becomes the film’s posthumous co-author.

CABBAGE, POTATOES AND OTHER DEMONS. AFTER 10 YEARS

Șerban Georgescu · 80 min

A new look at Romanian farmers, caught between abundant harvests, unpredictable prices and the insecurity of everyday life. In Lungulețu, the author returns after 10 years to his former protagonists and discovers that what once seemed like an isolated problem has proved to be a persistent reality.

BOX IN BERCENI

Alexandru Buliga · 24 min

In a boxing gym in Bucharest's Berceni district, a former boxer and war veteran mentors three young fighters as they prepare for an upcoming boxing competition. Through discipline and guidance, the ring becomes the place where they forge their ambition, resilience, and sense of identity.

SINGING IN THE GRAVE

Radu Ștefan Lungu · 35 min

In the village of Pârâu de Pripor lives a family of traditional musicians. Although music is constantly evolving, they keep their tradition alive, passing it down from father to son and from one generation to the next.

THE LINE

Andreea Dumitriu · 40 min

Over several days, a line of believers at one of Eastern Europe’s largest Orthodox pilgrimages reveals a temporary community shaped by faith, patience and unexpected encounters.

SASSY SPARTANS

Maud Mascre · 78 min

In New Caledonia, a choreographer introduces women of different ages and backgrounds to the art of burlesque as they prepare for the anniversary performance of her dance school. Along the way, they confront their insecurities and learn to embrace their bodies.

WINTER IN MARCH

Natalia Mirzoyan · 16 min

After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, a young Russian couple decides to leave their country. Their journey to Georgia turns into a surreal nightmare, as fear and uncertainty put their hopes for a new beginning to the test.

END OF THE LINE

Maria Stafie · 19 min

Ana and Stefana volunteer at a suicide prevention helpline, answering daily calls from people in crisis. After each conversation, they struggle to find a balance between other people's suffering and their own lives.