CONGRATULATIONS AND TAKEAWAY FROM NFFF 2025
Nova Frontier Film Festival and Harlem Stage Extend Gratitude to the Winners of the 2025 Nova Frontier Film Festival
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners of the 2025 Nova Frontier Film Festival. Your powerful, visionary work continues to push boundaries and elevate voices from across the African Diaspora, the Middle East, and Latin America.
This year marked a significant and exciting new chapter for the Festival. For the first time since its inception, Nova Frontier made its debut in Harlem, presented in partnership with the iconic Harlem Stage. Over three inspiring days—June 5 to 7—audiences were treated to a dynamic and expansive program of 13 curated long- and short-form film screenings, illuminating filmmaker Q&As, thought-provoking panel discussions, and dynamic industry talks. Together, these elements created an electric atmosphere of cultural exchange, critical dialogue, and artistic celebration.
The 2025 Festival unfolded under the theme of Freedom, echoing Harlem Stage’s 2024/2025 season “When We Are Heard”—the inaugural season led by newly appointed CEO & Artistic Director, Dr. Indira Etwaroo. Each film explored urgent and deeply personal interpretations of freedom: through acts of resistance, stories of migration, declarations of love, and journeys of self-determination. These cinematic narratives offered audiences an opportunity to reflect on the agency we each hold in shaping our identities and communities in times of profound social, political, and environmental change.
Highlights from this year's festival included a rousing opening night with a sold-out screening and performance, the world premiere of several groundbreaking films, and deeply moving conversations with award-winning filmmakers from across the globe. Audiences were invited not only to watch but to engage—to question, reflect, and connect.
As Nova Frontier Film Festival continues its mission to serve as a vital platform for underrepresented voices, we are grateful to our partners, audiences, and especially the artists whose work continues to inspire and transform.
Thank you for being part of this remarkable journey. We look forward to what lies ahead.
2 OR 3 Things I Don’t Know About Her
Director, Sabrina Idiri Chemloul ( France) 2024
Drama | 22 Mins | Rated PG
Lila is an 18-year-old girl living in Brest, France. She recently decided to wear a veil, to the dismay of her family. After an argument with her boyfriend, Lila does not feel like celebrating Eid at home and decides to slip away.
Cura sana
Director, Lucía G. Romero ( Spain) 2024
Drama | 18 Mins | Rated PG
Jessica and Alma, two sisters in a situation of domestic violence, will begin to treat each other with love instead of violence through one of their routine trips to the food stamp office on the night of San Juan, a Spanish holiday.
Berlinale 2024 Berlin, World Premiere, Winner of Crystal Bear for Best 14plus Short Film
Everything Is The Fault of The Wind
Director, Shaghayegh Majidi (Iran, Islamic Republic of 2024
Drama | 18 Mins | Rated PG
Omid, a child laborer, turns to drug trafficking after discovering his mother’s secret life. Their worlds collide, leading to unexpected consequences they must confront together.
Branden
Director, Lisette Ma Neza (Belgium) 2024
Documentray | 18 Mins | Rated PG
A collective poem about the burning of home countries, about the fire and the smoke of armed conflict; which transforms humans to 'refugees'. A conversation with five women from different diasporas: about leaving… and (never) arriving. An ode to the displaced woman.
Beutset
Director, Alicia Mendy (Switzerland/Senegal) 2023
Fiction | 29:57 Mins | Rated PG
When a parasite contaminates all the drinking water of Dakar, pills are created to neutralize it. Alioune, a young man, can no longer afford them and is exposed to the symptoms of the parasite: Madness and dementia. As the days go by, he realizes that he has never been so lucid, and he begins a journey of political and spiritual awakening.
Rio de Janeiro, Festival Curta Cinema - Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival , Best Direction – Ex aequo (International Competition) 2024 (Winner)| Winterthur, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Award for the Best Swiss Shool Film 2023 (Winner)| Winterthur, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Prix du meilleur film des écoles de cinéma suisses (Industry Award) 2023 (Winner)
Alicia Mendy
TAKE AWAY MOMENTS IN PICTURES
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TAKE AWAY MOMENTS IN PICTURES --
