With its strong debut, the Fujifilm Short Film Festival positions itself as a long-term platform for nurturing emerging filmmakers across regions often underrepresented in global film circuits.
By Joseph Jonathan
The inaugural Fujifilm Short Film Festival (FSFF), presented in partnership with Cinema Akil and Gulf Photo Plus, concluded in Dubai with an awards ceremony spotlighting emerging voices from across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Designed as a platform for short-form storytelling across narrative, documentary, experimental, and student categories, the festival drew strong engagement from both filmmakers and audiences, with fully booked screenings and workshops throughout its run.
Held at Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel One Central, the closing ceremony saw over $15,000 in cash prizes and filmmaking equipment awarded by Fujifilm Middle East. Beyond the prizes, the festival’s first edition signalled a growing appetite for regionally rooted stories that engage personal histories, political memory, migration, and intimacy through formally inventive approaches.
The FSFF jury reflected this international and cross-disciplinary outlook. The panel included Mohamed Tarek, Artistic Director of the Cairo International Film Festival; Gianluca Chakra, CEO of Front Row Filmed Entertainment; producer and cultural commentator Nasri Atallah; curator Shannon Ayers Holden of Alserkal Avenue; Kenyan filmmaker and programmer Hawa Essuman; and Iranian producer Kaveh Farnam, whose credits include the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning There Is No Evil. Together, the jury evaluated a slate of films that demonstrated both technical assurance and a commitment to storytelling shaped by lived realities.
African filmmakers featured prominently among the award recipients. From the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Egypt to the African diaspora, the winning projects reflected a cinema attentive to memory, labour, illness, and survival, often using restraint and formal experimentation to confront difficult histories. The selected films also emphasised the strength of short filmmaking as a space for risk-taking and emotional precision, particularly for emerging directors working outside traditional production pipelines.
Full List of Winners
Best Film
Almost Intangible
Director: Taraneh Esmailian
Country: Iran
The jury singled out the film for its quiet control, intimacy, and precision, noting how its careful use of space, dialogue, and silence reveals emotional fractures within a relationship.
Narrative Category Winner
All This Death
Director: Fadi Syriani
Country: Lebanon
A restrained portrait of grief set in Beirut, following an elderly man whose daily encounters with death become a meditative journey toward acceptance.
Documentary Category Winner
I Told You So
Director: Malak AlSayyad
Country: Egypt
A deeply personal documentary chronicling the filmmaker’s experience living with endometriosis, foregrounding pain, resilience, and community among women navigating chronic illness.
Experimental Category Winner
Nsala
Director: Mickael-Sltan None
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Blending colonial archives with contemporary footage, the film interrogates historical erasure and the enduring violence of capitalist systems through a silent, poetic form.
Student Category Winner
Almost Intangible
Director: Taraneh Esmailian
Country: Iran
Praised for its assured voice and disciplined filmmaking, the short uses improvisation and tension to explore shifting emotional dynamics between a couple.
Audience Choice Award
Glory of the Meadow
Director: Nima Shamsaei
Country: Iran
Voted best by festival audiences, the film centres on a young boy navigating family trauma and emotional repair following his father’s suicide attempt.
Special Mention
Sweet Refuge
Director: Maryam Mir
Country: Bahrain / USA
A tender, understated portrait of a Syrian baker’s first Eid in the United States, recognised for its emphasis on empathy, ritual, and everyday human connection.
With its strong debut, the Fujifilm Short Film Festival positions itself as a long-term platform for nurturing emerging filmmakers across regions often underrepresented in global film circuits. Backed by Fujifilm Middle East, Cinema Akil, and Gulf Photo Plus, FSFF’s first edition reflects a growing commitment to short films as a vital site for cinematic discovery, cultural dialogue, and new creative voices.