We are pleased to present the films that triumphed at SBIFest 2024, emerging as winners in the Final that took place at the Darna Theater in Tangier from November 22 to 24, 2024. This is the list of 12 films that were awarded in the first edition of our Festival.
Best Feature Film
Two friends, a German and a Russian, travel through time, ending up in 1941. Friends are forced to make decisions and cope with difficulties they could not imagine. Will their friendship survive the obstacles and which side will Paul and Sergei take?
Russian Federation, 1H 44 minutes
Director Biography - Mark Gorobetz
Mark was born on May 30, 1975 in Kyiv. The director recalled that in his childhood the TV broadcast only three channels, and he grew up on the Soviet hits “The meeting place cannot be changed” and “The investigation is carried out by experts,” and therefore he dreamed of becoming an investigator. With age, these children's plans underwent changes, and as a result, Gorobets went to study to become a director.
In 2005, Mark graduated from the directing department of the Institute of Cinema and Television of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, where his master was Georgy Shklyarevsky, who specialized in documentary film.
Best Short Film
The Most Beautiful Among Mothers
The main character of the film is the mother, since she is forced to sit everyday by the window to wait for her only son, because of the current situation in the 48 Palestinian community and the raise of violence rate. Despite that the mother is doing nothing but waiting for her son, still, she is worried and fear is taking over her, she is scared that in any moment someone will come to her with bad news about her son.
Everything can happen here and now, the mother is again sitting next to the window, and patiently waits for her son, without interfering in anything that is taking place in the ally, and only at dawn when the son is back the mother calms down.
State of Palestine, 12:19 minutes
Director Biography - Mahmoud Abu Jaz
Mahmoud Abu Jazi ,born in 1962 studied art and theater in Athens , adding a new color to the Palestinian art was the purpose.
I graduated in 1989 and participated in different work of arts, tv shows and cinema in Greek language! including numerous works of theater, for example the lead role Hercules.
I returned home in 1992 and participated in numerous projects of cinema , I took the lead role in short film “BE QUIET” which took awards in Cannes festival and Dubai cinema festival.
In 2008 won the best lead actor in “JAMR AL-HEKAYA” in Valencia festival.
In 2012 ,The lead role in film “PALESTINE STEREO”.
in 2022 won five awards best leading actor in film "A DEAD SEA" in different international
festivals.
in 2012 started writing scenarios ,…
Best Feature Documentary
The documentary "The Breath of Sarajevo" tells the extraordinary story of Sanja and Zoran, who in 1993 fled and survived the siege of Sarajevo, the longest war siege in the history of the 20th century, to find refuge in Italy. After 30 years they return to Sarajevo, together with the woman who welcomed them in her home, in a small mountain village.
Italy, 1H 31 minutes
Director Biography - Fabiana Antonioli
Fabiana Antonioli: editor, director and producer.
As director, I've realized documentary on social history and foootball stories:
doc “FINCHE’ MORTE NON CI SEPARI" 2008
(Until death do us part)
official mention International FICTS Fest at Milano Sport Movies&TV+best direction Sport Film Fest Palermo; on air ESPN TV Italia 2012
doc “ IL SEGNO DEL CAPRO” 2015
(The sign of goat)
Best movie 67° Valdarno Cinema FEDIC+ best doc Maazzeni FilmFest+official selections: Cervignano Film Fest, Mediterraneo Video Fest, AIFF Ariano International Film Fest, Artelesia Festival- Italy.
doc “L’ULTIMO VIAGGIO DEL CONTE ROSSO” 2016
(The last journey of Conte Rosso)
Best Football Film Sport Film Fest Palermo-Italy;
DVD Tuttosport distribution may 2017; on air Sport Mediaset Italia
"SAN LUPO E LA RIVOLUZIONE CHE NON FU" 2017
(San Lupo and the revolution that was not - The Banda del Matese history); on air Rai Storia
Best Documentary Short Film
20 years after the creation of the first-generation Soul Flyers team by Reunion Island native Loïc Jean-Albert, new-generation team members Fred Fugen and Vincent Cotte return to the island where it all began, to keep the Soul Flyers spirit alive.
France, 18 minutes
Director Biography - Thibault Gachet
As a mountain's child, born in the Alps, and a specialist in extreme sports films, particularly aerial sports, I've been directing, filming and editing films for Soul Flyers for over 10 years, as well as for the mountain (skiing), mountain bike and cycling (Tour de France), motor sports (aerobatic aircraft, motocross) and water sports (Route du Rhum) sectors.
Best Horror Short Film
Symmetrical stiffness Perfectionism artist Oh Ju-bom's perfect daily life begins to distort.
Everyone has different horrors. Some are ghosts, some are demons, some are monsters...
So what about the fear of a perfectionist?
Does perfect really exist in this world?
The moment you face fear, you will realize the reality.
Korea, Republic of, 13:06 minutes
Director Biography - Sea-Hoon Jeon
Born in South Korea, Studied in China for 16 years, graduated from elementary, middle, high school, and college in China. Now a graduate student at Hanyang University Department of Theater and Film in South Korea.
Best Fiction Short Film Director
Some immigrants by the sea are waiting for them to cross the sea.. A young couple with other immigrants are going to the light of the world, but they have problems when their baby is born.
Iran, Islamic Republic of, 13:30 minutes
Director Biography - Karim Azimi
I have been working as a film writer/producer/director for more than thirty years, and during these years, I have made many films such as/Hundreds of Cinema/Eta/Butterflies die in the snow/Falling/Khaneh Am Abrist/999999999/survivor/ and. I have worked in more than 500 national and international festivals and won more than 50 awards
And he has been chosen as a judge in several international festivals, such as the Tehran International Short Film Festival, the International Start Festival, the 100 International Festival, the Baku International Festival, etc.
Grand Socco Award
Symmetrical stiffness Perfectionism artist Oh Ju-bom's perfect daily life begins to distort.
Everyone has different horrors. Some are ghosts, some are demons, some are monsters...
So what about the fear of a perfectionist?
Does perfect really exist in this world?
The moment you face fear, you will realize the reality.
Spain, 1h 23 minutes
Director Biography - Arantxa Vela
Arantxa Vela Buendía (Madrid, 1962) is a documentary filmmaker, and has been a full-time employee of RTVE (National Spanish Television Corporation) since 1984.
She has specialised in shows and series on the performing arts since 2000; first as a documentalist and then, from 2010 to 2013, as the producer and senior editor of “Mi reino por un caballo” (My Kingdom for a Horse) - RTVE‘s weekly magazine programme on events and headline news from the theatre world.
Filmography:
'Wielding the soul' ('Empuñando el alma', 2022) Writer and director. It received 23 awards in different international film festivals and 8 nominations.
'The alquimist's dance' ('El baile de la alquimista', 2024) Writer and director.
She is also a member of the editorial board of the journal ARTESCÉNICAS since 2018, and of la Academia de Artes Escénicas de España (The Performaning Arts Academy of Spain).
Co- author with Declan Donnellan of the book “Donnellan on Shakespeare”. Ten years of interviews with the theatre director about Shakespeare.
She wrote and directed two theatre plays: ‘Cabaret paranormal’ (2017-22) and ‘Reality Cabaret Show’ (2018)
She produced, wrote and directed six short films (1990-94)
Best Moroccan Short Film
Said, a 13 year old boy in the old Medina of Rabat, has a side job collecting empty beer bottles to buy food for a dog he is hiding. Said finds keeping the dog he rescued conflicting with his family, friends, and religious tradition.
Morocco, 18 minutes
Director Biography - Yassine EL Idrissi
Yassine el Idrissi (1983, Morocco) He was a journalist for several Moroccan (Al Masae) and international newspapers. In 2009, he made his first short documentary, Waiting for the snow. In 2013 he graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy. Today he devotes himself to directing. These films have been screened in more than 140 festivals (Rotterdam Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, etc.).
Best Spanish Feature Film
Step back in time to the vibrant 1970s, where two young Spanish adventurers, Javier and Rafa, venture into the Sahara Desert, driven by a hunger for thrilling escapades and the yearning for an unforgettable journey.
Amidst the vast expanse of sand, they discover the allure of friendship, the allure of risk... and the alluring Florence, a captivating French muse whose presence awakens a whirlwind of emotions. Together, they brave the perils of the notorious "Desert Pirates," immerse themselves in the ethereal wonders of the Tuareg culture, and endure the relentless grip of the shifting sands.
But it is Javier alone who unearths the extraordinary secret guarded by "Tin-Hinan," the enigmatic Tuareg princess with a spirit as vast as the desert itself.
Spain, 2h 9 minutes
Director Biography - Antonio Rodríguez Cabal
2023: Producer, director and screenwriter of "Fin de Viaje Sahara", a new film based on discarded material from the 25,000 meters of film negative made in 1983. Unusual
2022: Producer of the feature film “Escapes and Absences” directed by Rafael Alcazar. Waiting for premiere.
2020: Screenwriter and producer of the film project "Journey to the Fantastic World of Gloria Fuertes". Animation. In end of development phase.
2020: Scriptwriter and producer of the film project “Prohibido Reír”. Based on the famous characters from "Carmen and her dolls": Rodolfo, Nikol, Daisy and Doña Rogelia.
1996 - 2015: Managing Director of an audiovisual post-production services company.
1987 - 1997: Develops advertising activity. For 5 years he is linked to the Telson company.
He writes several film scripts: "Estación 32", "Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca", "Rivales"...
1982 -1985: Produces, writes and directs "SAHARA". 93-minute film that is withdrawn from the market in 1989 by his own decision.
1981 - 1983 Still photo in 3 films by director Rafael Gil and in the Spanish-French co-production entitled “Othelo” by Max H. Boulois
1975 - 1992 Advertising photographer specializing in "Still life". Various prizes.
Training
Master in "Film Writing" from the Autonomous University of Madrid 1990.
Graduated in Geography from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1980.
He has studied Image and Sound at the Faculty of Information Sciences up to 4th year.
History of Art from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1982.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
SGA member.
Member of EGEDA. Audiovisual Producers Management Entity.
Member of the ALMA Writers Union.
Founding member of ACCIÓN, association of film directors.
Best Spanish Short Film
Carolina and David become friends when they discover they share literary tastes. This starting point can give them a lot or take everything away.
Spain, 6 minutes
Director Biography - Jeny Poquet
Su primer trabajo "Zapatillas sin cordones" obtuvo 14 nominaciones a los Premis Cinema Costa Brava, consiguiendo el de Mejor Guion, Mejor Dirección, Mejor Actriz Protagonista, Mejor Actor de Reparto y Mejor Música Original.
Best Italian Feature Film
Former UN soldier Essa has fled the Gambia for Finland, where he has successfully set up a business that provides for his family. Back in his hometown Bureng, he is celebrated as a hero. During a visit home, world events catch up with him: The coronavirus outbreak jeopardises Essa’s return to Europe and his application to renew his residence permit, plunging him into one of the most serious crises of his life.
"The Strong Man of Bureng" is both a contemporary odyssey and an intimate story of the deep motivations that have brought a person to leave his own country in an effort to satisfy universal needs.
Italy, 1h 15 minutes
Director Biography - Mauro Bucci
Mauro Bucci is an Italian award-winning filmmaker and independent researcher working in the field of Visual Anthropology. He is particularly concerned with film’s potential for studying and understanding human experiences and cultural practices. He has authored scientific essays on ethnographic cinema for both Italian and international journals and books, and he has held seminars, summer schools and master classes focused on the theories and techniques of representing social phenomena through film.
Mauro Bucci's filmmaking method is based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, during which he establishes a bond with the people being filmed to better understand their everyday lives and points of view. For his films, he worked as a one-man crew shooting video, recording sound, and editing footage to maintain complete authorial control over the work. He applied this method in "Hotel Splendid", a documentary that portrays the lives of an African community hosted in an Italian hotel that has been converted into an emergency refugee camp. In his latest film, "The Strong Man of Bureng", using a similar approach, he explores the theme of circular migration, closely following the protagonist across different continents and life experiences.
Best Italian Short Film
It is the end of 1985. Things have changed in Cagliari for some time. The city is plunged into darkness. Now Cagliari is ugly, dirty but above all bad. Fault of drugs, which like a flooded river has invaded the streets.
On the evening of December 23, two bandits, armed and with their faces covered by balaclavas, break into a liquor store, inside there is a man in his sixties, the robbers order the owner to hand over the proceeds. the man does not allow himself to be intimidated and reacts, a scuffle ensues, two shots are fired the owner remains on the ground lifeless What appears to be an easy robbery becomes a crime that shakes the city to its foundations and plunges it definitively into a nightmare from which he will emerge alone twenty years later.
Aldo is an out-of-course university student. One like many in Cagliari. A little undecided. He went from some small and harmless experience with drugs to the usual jobs to put together some money to the awareness of wanting to change his life and get busy to help himself and others. That evening he has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He lives in the neighborhood where the crime took place. He happens to be passing by while the robbery is taking place. In the following days he is stopped, arrested and placed in solitary confinement in which he will remain for 185 days
On 2 July 1986, Aldo committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell in the Cagliari Buoncammino prison.
Italy, 29 minutes
Director Biography - Paolo Carboni
Paolo Carboni (Cagliari, 1966) is a filmmaker and independent producer from Cagliari. In the late 1980s, he trained as a video camera operator and has since collaborated with regional and national broadcasters, producing television programs, news magazines, and documentaries. At the same time, he began his career as an independent videomaker. His first short film, Cadenas (1994), won the Best Editing award at the Videogramma competition in Catania.
In 2000, he founded the production company Areavisuale, through which he has created numerous short films, documentaries, and movies, earning recognition both nationally and internationally. He later attended documentary filmmaking courses taught by Argentine director Fernando Solanas, during which he produced his first self-funded documentaries: Curraggia 28 luglio 1983 and 185 Giorni – Diario di mala giustizia. The latter recounts the events leading to the death of Aldo Scardella, who, falsely accused of murder, took his own life in prison after six months of unjust treatment.
In 2006, he attended Circus, a film course held by the Holden School in Turin. In 2007, he created the documentaries I giganti della montagna and Storie di donne, which explore, respectively, the world of the Buggerru mines through the memories of elderly miners and their wives and daughters. He also made Circolare Notturna, a documentary about nighttime precarious work in Cagliari, earning several awards including Best Film at the Il cinema racconta il lavoro project competition (2006–2007, Cagliari), the Visioni del Territorio Award in Limena (Padua, 2008), Best Documentary at the Pentedattilo Film Festival (Reggio Calabria, 2008), Best Documentary at Malescorto (Malesco, 2008), the Grand Prize Kodak for Best Italian Film at the Siena International Short Film Festival (2008), the Veronica Locatelli Prize at the Siena International Short Film Festival (2008), Best Documentary at Obiettivo sul Lavoro (Rome, 2008), and the Audience Award at the Ecologico Film Festival (Lecce, 2009).
In 2009, he won third place in the second edition of Il cinema racconta il lavoro with his project for the documentary film Cattedrali di sabbia. The film subsequently won the title of Best Film among the awarded projects in 2010. With the same film, he won the Sardinian Sustainability Film Festival in Norbello (2010) for Best Medium-Length Film and received a Special Mention at the Documé Film Festival in Rome. In 2013, he also won Best Documentary at the Festival delle Terre in Rome.
In 2010, he co-founded the Babel Association, through which he collaborates with public entities, schools, and private organizations to create projects and initiatives aimed at promoting Sardinian cultural identity. These efforts emphasize the value of the Sardinian language, history, traditions, and cultural heritage in all their uniqueness and originality. Since 2017, he has been the President of the Babel Association, organizing the Kentzeboghes award for film projects in minority languages (now in its fifth edition) and serving as one of the artistic directors of the Babel Film Festival (now in its seventh edition), the first international film competition exclusively dedicated to productions focusing on minorities, especially linguistic ones.
He is also one of the founders of Eja TV, the first television and web channel in the Sardinian language (broadcast on channel 172 of terrestrial digital television until 2021 and currently a web TV). The channel promotes a unique vision of television communication, offering various programs entirely in Sardinia's minority languages. Since 2021, he has been one of the producers of RTS – Radio Televisione Sarda (channel 79 on terrestrial digital television) and currently serves as President of its namesake cultural association.