kimff 2024 winners

dir: Reza Jamali | 82 min |Iran 2022

Twenty years ago, in a remote village, an old filmmaker named Kazem made a film on the sterility of the women villagers, but in order to protect their dignity, the women stole the footage and burnt them. Now, after two decades, the villagers find out that the men are barren and there is nothing wrong with the women. With the help of his assistant, Kazem tries to record some interviews with the infertile men to unfold the truth.

dir: Guillermo Quintero | 70 min | Colombia 2023

In the Serranía de la Macarena, in the north of the Colombian Amazon, lies ‘Río Rojo’, a mythical river that runs through the middle of the forest, also called ‘the river of the seven colors’. Young Oscar, grandmother Doña María and the Indian Sabino live peacefully in the region, in communion with nature. But this area, once preserved by the conflict with FARC, is now victim of its beauty and threatened by the arrival of new visitors.

dir: Sarvnik Kaur | 97 min | India 2023

Two friends, both indigenous Koli fishermen in Mumbai, are driven to desperation by a dying sea. Their friendship begins to fracture as they take very different paths to provide for their struggling families.

dir: Annegre Bosman | 97 min | Netherlands/ Nepal 2023

At one level, Into the Heart of the Mountain follows clinicians of Nomads Clinic on its annual medical pilgrimage, which has been undertaken for four decades, to Humla in northwestern Nepal, as they follow trails and cross passes of more than 18.000 feet with spectacular mountains in the background. It documents their efforts to bring urgent medical care to the people of this secluded mountain region, home to the spiritual, pre-Buddhist, Bon culture. At another level the film portrays a people who so far have managed to preserve their social, cultural, economic and political integrity. But climate change together with their struggle for rights to their ancestral, nomadic lands and natural resources are undermining the very fabric of their existence. The film is also the story of Zen Buddhist spiritual leader Roshi Joan Halifax, who created Nomads Clinic and is the narrator of the documentary, as she grapples with the layers of deception and of gender-based violence as well as pervasive misogyny that have shaped her life.

dir: Agniia Galdanova | 97 min | United States/ France 2023

Gena, an artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes and protests on the streets of Moscow. She stages radical performances in public, which becomes a new form of art and activism and puts her life in danger.

dir: Mehrdad Hasani | 17 min | Iran 2022

The nine year-old effeminate boy, Shahrokh, humiliated and pushed away by his family and friends makes up his mind to adjust himself to his new identity and comes out to the people of his village. Having been through a variety of ordeals, Shahrokh, dressed in girl’s clothes, shows up in the class before his classmates.

dir: Sachin Rana| 32 min | India 2023

Marriage begins to spool the fates of two sisters as their family begins to arrange for one. Lost in her kaleidoscopic imagination, the younger sister comes to believe that she is being married. On the other hand, the elder sister, the one being married, knows what this marriage is— a remedy for crossing the lines drawn by society and concocted by the fear of social boycott. From the hills of Uttarakhand comes this story of two sisters’ destiny tied to their society, a sliver of the ensuing saga of a people torn by prejudice disguised as tradition.

dir: Alireza Kazemipour | 14 min | Iran 2022

A bald girl and a young boy with long hair whose car has been confiscated due to lack of proper hijab are trying to solve their problem with the Tehran Morality Police without having to pay a fine. Police surveillance cameras have mistaken the boy for a woman because of his long hair, and the young girl, despite her shaved head, has to pay the fine simply because she’s a woman and that the hijab law only applies to females. The two of them are hence resisting the police. Being humiliated by a police officer, they decide to punish the officer in their own way.

dir: Vincent Groos | 22 min | Belgium/ United States 2024

Climbing for Gold profiles Fré Leys, a Paralympic climber determined to secure victory at the 2023 World Championships in Salt Lake City.

dir: Palmer Morse | 16 min | United States 2024

While navigating a myriad number of life challenges from being her mom’s caretaker and working several jobs to facing housing insecurity, Anjelica Avella turned to the outdoors in her mid-20s to improve her mental health. Despite feeling the benefits of time spent outside for her well-being, the absence of other plus-size women of colour on the trail was noticeable. In an effort to form a community, Anjelica began leading weekend hikes and trips for other women who too were seeking others with shared lived experiences. Forward chronicles Anjelica’s perspective in a space that has historically excluded individuals like her and shares a profound connection between women who once felt sidelined and are now a catalyst for change.

dir: Nicolas Bossard | Pakistan/ France 2023

Jumping from the top of Nameless Tower in Pakistan after having climbed the Eternal Flame route is to combine the ascent of one of the most beautiful climbing routes in the world with the opening of one of the most beautiful jumps in BASE jumping imaginable. Following in the footsteps of the pioneers of 1990, Éric Jamet and Antoine Pecher have achieved this feat. An adventure shared amongst friends, which is beautiful, powerful and breathtaking!

dir: Shanta Nepali |26 min | Nepal 2023

In the remote Tibetan villages of Upper Mustang, Nepal, climate change has desiccated the landscape. The water table has dropped drastically, forcing the abandonment of the ancient village of Dhye. Dhye Dreams intimately explores the lives of three women—Sonam Sangmo, Kunchok Dolkar and Lhakpa Choezon—fighting against their fate. Most of the villagers have moved down to a river-fed valley and the new frontier town of Chambaleh, where they hope to grow a commercial apple crop. But Kunchok and Lhakpa are staying with their beloved livestock and fields, up in the mountains. Their stories highlight the resilience and struggle for the survival of isolated Himalayan villages battling against dramatic climate change.

dir: Anusha Thulung Rai | 23 min | Nepal/ UK 2023

Annually, the Rai community in the United Kingdom gather to celebrate their traditional festival: Sakela. In the weeks leading to the festival, the film follows the preparations for the festival of this ethnic community from eastern Nepal in Ashford, Kent.

dir: Samagra Shah | 23 min | Nepal 2024

Wagging Tale is a short documentary about Rupak who has dedicated his life to caring for street dogs. Carrying almost 70 kg of chicken bones every day on foot, he feeds street dogs who have become his only family, almost replacing his estranged one.

dir: Pradhumna Mishra | 20 min | Nepal 2022

Dubidha (Dilemma) is the story of a day in the life of Mahesh (36) and Parvati (27), who could not conceive a baby even after 12 years of marriage and are compelled to flee their village in western Nepal due to the constant taunts of villagers to resettle in a squatter colony for the landless in Kathmandu. Mahesh, a vegetable vendor, is reluctant to show the laboratory report on the investigation into the cause for their not being able to conceive a baby to the doctor for fear of the imminent revelation that might ruin their otherwise happy married life. Parvati, who looks after the baby of a woman seven years younger than her, begins to fear the worst—the possibility of Mahesh remarrying due to her inability to bear a child. Mahesh musters up courage and finally goes to the doctor with the report that reveals inadequacy in Parvati to bear a child. Mahesh is drowned in a dilemma. What should he do? How will he break the news to Parvati?

dir: Devendra Khatri | 43 min | Nepal 2023

The drug deal goes south when the drug lord finds out that two of his peddlers have been stealing from him all this time.

dir: Samal Kumar Bajracharya |11 min | Nepal 2024

Yug, an eight-year-old boy, harbours an unyielding desire to fly like Superman. Despite numerous failed attempts, he remains undeterred, continuously striving to fulfill his dream. One day, after a scolding from his mother and unintentionally sparked by her words, Yug sets out on an extraordinary and daring adventure.

dir: Prabhat Gurung | 14 min | Nepal 2023

During Nepal’s civil war, a survivor Buddhist monk’s morality is challenged when he encounters an injured Maoist rebel.

dir: Sachin Ghimire/ Gaurab KC | 79 min | Nepal 2022

This is a biopic based on the life and work of an anthropologist Professor Dor Bahadur Bista. Prof. Bista was a leading anthropologist of Nepal and is remembered to this day for institutionalising anthropology and sociology in Nepal. After 1990 he devoted his time in Chaudhabisa, Jumla in western Nepal, engaging in community welfare and founded Karnali Research Institute. People of Chaudabisha remember him for his philanthropic and developmental works in the community. On 11 January, 1996 on the way to Kathmandu he flew from Jumla to Nepalgunj from where he went missing and has not been seen since. Where could he have gone? Did he commit suicide, did somebody kidnap him or did he go into hiding? People have various speculations regarding his mysterious disappearance.

dir: Shanta Nepali | 26 min | Nepal 2023

In the remote Tibetan villages of Upper Mustang, Nepal, climate change has desiccated the landscape. The water table has dropped drastically, forcing the abandonment of the ancient village of Dhye. Dhye Dreams intimately explores the lives of three women—Sonam Sangmo, Kunchok Dolkar and Lhakpa Choezon—fighting against their fate. Most of the villagers have moved down to a river-fed valley and the new frontier town of Chambaleh, where they hope to grow a commercial apple crop. But Kunchok and Lhakpa are staying with their beloved livestock and fields, up in the mountains. Their stories highlight the resilience and struggle for the survival of isolated Himalayan villages battling against dramatic climate change.