Ajyal Film Festival 2023

Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2013

Mohaq: Best Short Filmmaker

Little Kyota Neon Hood (Kyota no houkago)

Satsuki Okawa / Short Narrative / Japan / 2012 / 20 min / Colour / HDCAM

Ten year old Kyota lives in Kiryu City with his single mother. There are two items he cannot live without – a worn out English vocabulary book and a disaster prevention hood. One day Kyota's English teacher Tim, who returned to England after an earthquake, comes back to his school.

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Hilal: Best Short Filmmaker

The Invention (El Invento)

Giovanni Granada / Short Narrative / Colombia / 2012 / 20 min / Colour / DCP

Twelve-year-old science geeks Danny and Andrès are mystified by girls, but find it very hard to approach them. Can learning the complicated principles of photography help? After all, as this metacinematic short suggests, love – just like the optical illusion of photography – a matter of perspective and projection.

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Hilal: Best Feature Filmmaker

Regret (Spijt!)

Dave Schram / Feature Narrative / Netherlands, The / 2013 / 95 min / Colour / DCP

Life seems peaceful and normal in a Dutch school, but in its corridors, beneath a façade of respectability, something terribly wrong is going on. “Hell is other people” says the French teacher, quoting Jean-Paul Sartre – and for Jochem, a lonely overweight student, school is really a living hell, as he is constantly bullied by some of his peers. Although the abuse is getting out of control, nobody around him seems to care – even the gym teacher is too busy maintaining his popularity to take notice.

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Bader: Best Short Filmmaker

Men's Barbershop (Saloun Rigal)

Meshal Alhulail / Short Narrative / Kuwait / 2012 / 14 min / Colour / HDCAM

Some things are seemingly insurmountable… like changing who cuts your hair.

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Bader: Best Feature Filmmaker

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

George Tillman Jr. / Feature Narrative / United States of America / 2012 / 108 min / DCP

Mister and Pete, two inner-city youths from the Brooklyn projects, are left to fend for themselves after their mothers are taken away by authorities. Over the course of a brutal summer, the two learn how to survive on their own and how to navigate their unfriendly neighbourhood. They don’t want to be sent to childcare, but life in the ‘hood is harsh, unsuitable for kids – and it starts to take its toll.

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Made in Qatar Award

My Hero

Nora Al-Subai / Short Narrative / Qatar / 2013 / 5 min / HDCAM

A young boy who idolises his busy father devises a clever way to spend more time with him.

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