original Karakalpak version with English subtitles
Synopsis
A desert landscape, as if from another planet. A few lonely, rusty shipwrecks. Low desert scrub grows around them to hold the sand together during the merciless storms. Aralkum, the Aral Desert, is the bare seabed, the last thing left of the Aral Sea. By weaving together different cinematic textures, the short film ARALKUM re-imagines the dried-up Aral Sea, allowing an old fisherman to set sail one last time.
'The shortfilm prize goes to a film that opens a door on a landscape swept by human excess. A poetic, political and aesthetic work where words and archives give birth to a sensorial experience on disappearance, loss, memory, oblivion, absence. An unexpected and masterful cinematographic gesture that questions our humanity. [Jury Statement 53 VdR]
'A film that combines a unique mix of documentary and experimental form. A warning story about the uncontrolled range that a human intervention to the environmental balance can take. A new cinematic reality very well constructed by the authors, in an impressive movie. The Special Jury Award is bestowed to Aralkum.' [Jury Statement DRAMA ISFF]
among others: Best Shortfilm – 53 VdR, Visions du Réel, Nyon nominated for DocAlliance Award qualified for Academy Awards Best Documentary Short Jury Special Mention – 15 BELDOCS, Belgrade Documentary Festival, Serbia Seal of Approval ‘highly recommended’ 25 VIDEOEX Zürich, Switzerland 21 DOKUFEST Prizren, Kosovo 35 Montenegro FF. Herceg Novi Jury Special Award – 45 Drama ISFF, Greece 18 CAMDEN IFF, USA 20 TIRANA IFF, Albania 17 UNDERDOX, Germany 14 DMZ Documentary Festival, South Korea 17 SHORTS Mexico ISFF 20 DOCLISBOA, Portugal 15 IMAGINE SCIENCE New York, USA 29 ETIUDA&ANIMA Krakow, Poland 41 Uppsala SFF, Sweden 4 Saigon Experimental FF, Vietnam 63 Festival dei Populi, Italy 64 Zinebi Bilbao, Spain 45 Poitiers FF, France 41 Filmschoolfest Munich @ FILMFEST MÜNCHEN, Germany 38 Interfilm Berlin, Germany 5 Frontera Sur Festival, Chile 03 Lima Alterna IFF, Peru 23 Izmir ISFF, Turkey 20 Bogoshorts, Colombia 20 London SFF, UK
2023 44 FF Max Ophüls Preis movies that matter festival, The Netherlands 52 sehnsüchte – Int. Student FF 17 Ethnocineca IDFF Vienna 16 this human world – International Human Rights Film Festival
In order for our website to function optimally, we use cookies for some of our applications. This includes i.a. the embedded social media, but also a tracking tool that provides us with information about the ergonomics of our website and user behavior. If you click on "Accept all cookies", you agree to the use of technically necessary cookies and those to optimize our website. See "Cookie Settings" for more information.
Control settings
Please select your preferences. You can change these at any time.
In order for our website to function optimally, we use cookies for some of our applications. These cannot be deactivated, otherwise you will not be able to use all applications.
In order to make our website as user-friendly as possible, we have i.a. social media embedded on our website. This allows you to share content with your loved ones on the appropriate network with just a few clicks. We also use anonymous tracking technology, which gives us information about e.g. the user behavior, but also the effectiveness and ergonomics of our website. For this purpose, we also use services that may be based outside the European Union (especially in the USA), where the level of data protection may be lower than in Germany.