The Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth, now in its 12th edition (Oct. 6-12), affirmed its growing stature as one of the Arab world’s most dynamic and globally connected showcases for new cinema. This year’s program featured 76 films from 26 countries, selected from over 1,700 submissions, including first time entries from Sao Tomé and Principe, Belize and Ecuador, reflecting both an expanding international reach and deepening artistic ambition. From intimate animations to socially-charged dramas and visually-daring documentaries, SIFF celebrated stories that blend emotional honesty with creative risk.
The festival’s launch of the Global Children and Youth Film Congress underscored its evolving role not just as a screening platform, but as a space for dialogue, mentorship and cross-cultural collaboration. More than ever, the films in competition demonstrated how stories rooted in youth perspectives can carry striking emotional and political weight, exploring identity, resilience, and belonging through fresh perspectives.
Among this year’s standouts were works that redefined what youth and family cinema can be: emotionally-sophisticated, visually ambitious and deeply human.
Animated Feature Films
‘Miss Moxy’ (2025)
(Wip Vernooij and Vincent Bal, Netherlands, Belgium. Produced by Jolande Junte and Petra Goedings)
A highlight of this year’s Sharjah Film Festival, “Miss Moxy” took home the award for best animated feature, charming audiences with its warmth and wit. Directed by Vincent Bal and Wip Vernooij, the film follows a pampered cat who gets lost while on holiday and embarks on an unexpected odyssey across Southern Europe alongside a goofy dog and a wise old bird, the very creatures she once disdained. Featuring the voices of Carice van Houten, Sarah Bannier and Tom Vermeir, this co-production from Phanta Animation, BosBros and Eyeworks Film & TV Drama balances playful adventure with heartfelt lessons about empathy and belonging. In addition to its big win in Sharjah, it took home the audience award at Poland’s Tauron Young Horizons Festival this October.
‘Jumbo’ (2025)
(Ryan Adriandhy, Indonesia. Produced by Anggia Kharisma and Novia Puspa Sari)
Directed by Ryan Adriandhy and produced by Anggia Kharisma and Novia Puspa Sari for Visinema Studios, “Jumbo” is a landmark Indonesian animated feature that shattered records as the country’s most-watched film and Southeast Asia’s highest-grossing animated feature. The heartfelt fantasy follows Don, a bullied orphan who befriends a ghost named Meri on a quest to reunite her with her parents, discovering courage and friendship along the way. Crafted over five years by 400 local artists, “Jumbo” blends emotional depth, dazzling visuals and universal storytelling that speaks to the child in everyone
Feature Films
‘My Driver and I’ (Salma wa Gamar, 2024)
(Ahd Kamel, Saudi Arabia. Produced by Georgie Paget and Thembisa Cochrane)
Winner of the Feature Film Competition at the Sharjah Film Festival, “My Driver and I” marks Ahd Kamel’s powerful debut feature. Set in 1980s and ’90s Jeddah, the film follows a young Saudi girl and her Sudanese driver whose unlikely friendship defies social boundaries and time. Loosely drawn from Kamel’s own childhood, the OSN+ Original is, in her own words, “a story about love, loss and the invisible ties that shape who we become.” Crafted with quiet elegance, the film captures how personal memory can become universal truth.
‘Hajeer’ (2024)
(Sara Talab, Saudi Arabia. Produced by Amal Alhajjar)
Directed by Sara Talab, this evocative period drama unfolds in 1960s Jeddah, where a young musician’s life is upended when illness robs him of his hearing. Abandoned by society yet driven by resilience, Hajeer transforms silence into strength, composing a symphony of redemption and love. With heartfelt performances from Abdul Aziz Faisal, Reem Alhabib and Khaled Alharbi, the film, produced by Amal Alhajjar for Shadow Films, celebrates perseverance, memory, and the music that endures even in silence.
‘The Mystery of the Black Hand’ (2024)
(Vsevolod Aravin, Russia. Produced by Dmitry Semenoff)
Set aboard a cross-country train in post-Stalin 1954, “The Mystery of the Black Hand” transforms childhood imagination into a poignant view on a nation in flux. Six-year-old Misha’s playful hunt for a phantom spy unfolds against the quiet unease of Soviet adulthood, blending innocence with historical introspection. Drawing on director Vsevolod Aravin’s own memories, the film recreates the textures of mid-century life with meticulous period detail, authentic 1950s costumes, and a nostalgic orchestral score recorded with the Moscow Bolshoi Theater Symphony, evoking both the innocence and the melancholy of a nation in transition.
‘2:15 PM’ (2023)
(Seryeong Jeong, South Korea. Produced by Ga Hye Kim)
Set in a quiet Korean neighborhood, “2:15 PM” traces the tender friendship between two young girls bound by secrecy and resilience. When 10-year-old Hyunsu discovers six-year-old Minha living in isolation under her father’s abuse, she begins visiting her each day for 15 minutes of reading and warmth. Directed by Seryeong Jeong, this poignant drama reveals how empathy can bloom even in darkness. Produced by Studio Dragon and CJ E&M, “2:15 PM” earned the best screenplay award at Isfahan and a Silver Remi in Houston for its delicate, human storytelling.
“The Mullah”
Courtesy of Bahaa Alkadumy
Arabic Short Films
‘The Mullah’ (2023)
(Bahaa Alkadumy, Iraq. Produced by Basra Cinema Center)
In Bahaa Alkadumy’s quietly searing Iraqi drama “The Mullah,” a boy’s struggle to speak becomes a battle for recognition. Produced by the Basra Cinema Center, of which Alkadumy is executive director, the film centers on Ahmed, a child with a speech impediment who is continually dismissed during Quranic lessons until defiance stirs within him, setting off a silent confrontation with his authoritative teacher. Stark and symbolic, “The Mullah” captures the tension between obedience and individuality, earning best Arab short narrative film at the Sharjah Film Festival for its haunting restraint and emotional precision.
‘Bottles’ (2024)
(Yassine El Idrissi, Morocco. Produced by Yassine El Idrissi)
“Bottles,” Yassine El Idrissi’s poignant Moroccan short, examines how small acts of compassion reveal the quiet struggles of growing up in a world of contradictions. Thirteen-year-old Said roams the medina of Rabat collecting empty beer bottles, selling them to buy food for a stray dog he secretly cares for. When his best friend warns him it’s haram, forbidden in Islam, Said’s kindness collides with faith, family and social expectation. Produced by Saffron Film Production and funded by CCM and AFAC, “Bottles” has screened at more than 110 festivals, winning over 10 international prizes, including at the Ajyal Film Festival, for its tender exploration of love, freedom and moral courage.
‘Wa’ad’ (Promise, 2024)
(Fatima Abdulaziz Alshamsi, United Arab Emirates. Produced by Fatima Alshamsi, Adnan Peter Almalki and Saif Al Chalabi)
Rooted in the quiet rhythms of Abu Dhabi life, this intimate Emirati short examines the fragile bond between a father and daughter navigating love, duty and misunderstanding. Written and directed by Fatima Abdulaziz Alshamsi, “Wa’ad” portrays how affection can be strained by unspoken expectations, and how even the most caring guidance can leave emotional fractures. Shot over two days with striking simplicity, the film reflects Alshamsi’s gift for emotional nuance and cultural reflection. A self- and crowd-funded passion project made with community support, “Wa’ad” has screened at Poppy Jasper, Ambitus, Sharjah, and the Kineko Film Festival in Tokyo.
International Short Films
‘How to Open the Door’ (2024)
(Ji Wan Park and Joan Ji Yey Hui, South Korea. Produced by Kim Nam-gil)
Winner of the international short film award at Sharjah, “How to Open the Door” by Ji Wan Park and Joan Ji Yey Hui blends realism and surrealism in a haunting portrait of isolation and renewal. Following a young woman navigating life after growing up in an orphanage, the film transforms her shrinking apartment into a dreamlike maze of memory and loss, using striking visual metaphors to explore belonging, self-worth, and the fragile hope of starting over.
‘Sour Candy’ (Anaar Daana, 2024)
(Nishi Dugar, India. Produced by Nishi Dugar, Kush Patel)
In her tender debut short, writer-director Nishi Dugar delicately explores how children confront the first ripples of loss. Set within the fading warmth of an ancestral home, the film follows free-spirited five-year-old Guddal and her siblings, whose playful pranks and sibling squabbles are suddenly interrupted by an unexpected tragedy. With remarkable sensitivity and restraint, “Sour Candy” captures the bewildering moment when innocence collides with grief, and laughter turns to silence, yet curiosity and love remain. Self-funded and produced by Dugar alongside Kush Patel, the film premiered in the Generation KPlus section of the 74th Berlin Intl. Film Festival (2024).
‘The Most Handsome Fish on Earth’ (Ikan Terganteng Sedunia, 2024)
(Netanya Yemima, Indonesia. Produced by Bela Nabila, Bayu Arief, and William Chandra)
Indonesian filmmaker Netanya Yemima crafts a playful yet pointed coming-of-age satire in this 18-minute short, where two best friends accidentally kill their school’s beloved mascot fish, recently crowned “the most handsome fish in Indonesia.” What begins as slapstick chaos soon reveals a layered critique of vanity, authority and the pressures of appearances. Blending youthful energy with biting humor, Yemima and producer-writer Bela Nabila use comedy to expose the absurdity of power structures through children’s eyes. Developed at LOCK x Full Circle Lab Indonesia and funded by Layar Indonesiana 2024, the film captures the innocence and rebellion of school life with vibrant performances and disarming warmth.
‘Punishment’ (2025)
(Puya Mofid, Iran. Produced by Puya Mofid)
Written by Mahdi Asghari Azghadi and directed by Puya Mofid, this searing Iranian drama unfolds within the confines of an elementary school, where a teacher’s harsh discipline leaves a young Black student traumatized and voiceless. As the boy’s family seeks justice, the teacher confronts an agonizing reckoning with guilt and the corrosive power of authority. Rooted in psychological realism, “Punishment” examines how cycles of violence and silence perpetuate across generations. Independently produced, the film has screened at Dokufest, Ningbo, Newport Beach, Sharjah and Rehoboth Beach film festivals.
Documentaries
Guardians of the Mountains (2025)
(Ali Fuad, United Arab Emirates. Produced by Naiem Ayman, Hanzallah Alam, Rahaf Walid)
Winner of the Documentary Competition at this year’s Sharjah festival, “Guardians of the Mountains” is a meditative ode to the timeless communities inhabiting the peaks of Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Musandam in the UAE. Foregoing narration and dialogue, the film invites viewers to experience the region through the rhythm of wind, stone and ritual. In conversation with Variety, the director described the work as “a hymn to endurance and belonging,” seeking to preserve a way of life slowly vanishing amid modernization. Lyrical and elemental, it transforms observation into reverence, making the invisible pulse of the mountains palpable.
“Hadhadah”
Courtesy of Ali Ali Alabdullah
‘Hadhadah’ (2024)
(Ali Alabdullah, Saudi Arabia. Produced by Mohammed Arafat)
This lyrical Saudi documentary, directed by Ali Alabdullah, transforms the lullaby from a simple childhood song into a profound study of emotional heritage and collective memory. Through intimate interviews and sensory imagery, “Hadhadah” explores how these maternal melodies shape infants’ emotional development and connect generations through sound, rhythm and tenderness. Produced by Close Media, Al-Ahsa Cinema Club and Hazel Films, the film offers a poetic reflection on motherhood, psychology and Arab cultural identity, capturing the lullaby as both music and memory.
Other winners at the 12th edition of SIFF underscored the breadth of talent emerging across the region and beyond. The best student film award went to “Coop” (Mujtaba Alhejji, Saudi Arabia), while “The Old Klavirista” (Sarah Coppin, Simo, Delhaye, Théo Massa, and Léopold Delcambre, France) received best student short animation. “Every Living, Breathing Moment” (Angelo Visser, United States) was named best film by children and youth, and “Son” (Zhanna Bekmambetova, Kazakhstan) earned best animated short film honors. Special mentions went to young performers Miron Provorov for “The Mystery of the Black Hand” and Park So-yi for “2:15 PM,” reflecting the jury’s recognition of exceptional performances that bridged youthful sincerity and cinematic maturity.
