OUR BROTHER
Genre
Drama
Running time
15 minutes
Year
2025
Language
English and Swahili
Subtitle
English and Arabic
Country
Kenya and France
Director
Shandra Apondi
Bio
Producer
Celine Onditi, Shandra Apondi
Cast
Beatrice Mwai, Brian Furaha, Agwingi Adingo, Ivy Collette, Sakwa Scarlet, Jacinta Maina
Scriptwriter
Shandra Apondi, Kofi Ntiforo, Norris Kabembe
In Shandra Apondi's short film Owadwa (also known as Our Brother), a family is poised between celebration and crisis. John helps his autistic brother, Mark Jr, prepare for their sister Mary’s wedding. As family tensions rise, a sudden and unexpected incident exposes long-buried struggles and sacrifices. When Mark disappears just as the groom’s family arrives, John must find him, leading to a confrontation that leaves the family shaken and vulnerable.
Other movies
GIRL
Director: Shu Qi
Superstar Shu Qi, icon of Asian cinema and muse of Hou Hsiao-hsien, makes her directorial debut with this self-penned, deeply personal coming-of-age drama. In a cramped home ruled by abuse, young teenager Lin Xiaoli keeps her head down, caring for her little sister while her father’s drunken rages cascade into her mother’s cruelty. Everything shifts when she befriends Li Lili, a rebellious classmate who skips class, smokes and urges Xiaoli to challenge the family’s toxic status quo. As escape glimmers, Shu Qi films with poised restraint, observing at a remove and tuning the viewer to intimate, everyday textures with a quietly harrowing strength. Tender yet unsentimental, Girl finds fragile beauty amid hurt and announces a formidable new directorial voice.
GHOST SCHOOL
Director: Seemab Gul
This gentle yet arresting debut feature from Seemab Gul centers around 10-year-old Rabia, a clear-eyed, logical-thinking, courageous child protagonist who wants to understand the real reason for the abrupt closure of her school. Rumours start that the school is haunted and her teacher is possessed by supernatural beings. However, her day-long quest for the truth, fuelled by her simple desire for an education, leads her into an adult world that has been plunged into superstition. What soon becomes clear are the machinations behind a corrupt regime and classist society, giving way to the nature of its real victims. Ghost School is a bittersweet portrayal of injustice for Rabia and the hope of a better future for all younger generations.
THE FINALE
Director: Rodolphe Chedid
In a secluded Lebanese village, Amal and Naeem, married for 50 years, find their peaceful life marked by the absence of their children, who left during the war more than three decades ago. Feeling a profound void, Amal seeks to rekindle their connection and rediscover meaning by asking Naeem to write their life story. He reluctantly agrees, and they embark on an intimate journey through forgotten memories and unspoken truths. As they revisit their past, they confront the love they’ve built and the questions that have shaped their lives. Filmed with a unique and original cinematic language, this love story is a powerful testament to how film can beautifully convey emotions, memories and the intimate details that make life extraordinary.
ROSE OF NEVADA
Director: Mark Jenkin
Rose Of Nevada is eerie, poignant and the tides are treacherous in this mysterious, daring work. Having brought Enys Men to Red Sea Film Festival in 2022, Mark Jenkin returns with his unique vision in this trenchant time-travelling tale of eternal loss. Two of the UK’s most exciting young actors, George MacKay and Callum Turner, headline this story initially set in a forgotten Cornish fishing village. Nick (MacKay) is trying to fix the roof over his head when he signs up as crew on a mysterious trawler called Rose of Nevada. Liam (Turner) is the stranger who drifts into town and ends up on board. All however, is not as it seems.