Behind the scenes with: Hanane Sarin, Samuel Vela Pérez and Ronen Eldar

Written by Pia Stoffers

Once again this year, the European Independent Film Festival has shown the strength and vitality of the independent indie cinema scene. The entire festival weekend was marked by unforgettable moments, inspiring storylines, and, above all, outstanding films that continue to resonate with us long after the event.

In this article, we will take a closer look at three of the 26 award recipients who received a Special Jury Mention in 2026. Each of these works stands out in its own distinctive way: Prescription by Hanane Sarin, The Strength of Silence by Samuel Vela, and Bush, a music video by Ronen Elder left a lasting impression on audiences. The recognition of these three titles is not only well deserved but also a testament to their artistic impact.

We are very curious about how these projects came into being! Let’s take a closer look behind the scenes and explore what makes each of these works so unique.

Special Jury Mention #1 

Starting strong with a short film from the European Independent Dramatic Short category, Hanane Sarin captivates audiences in a truly special way. Not only is she the director behind Prescription, but she also takes on the role of the protagonist herself. The film explores themes of grief, memory, and the unhealthy — perhaps even supernatural — attachment to a loved one after death.

Through this short film, Sarin raises a powerful question: when does love become destructive? More specifically, what happens when obsession prevents acceptance, healing, and even the ability to move forward? 

HANANE SARIN – PRESCRIPTION

Prescription is about Selena who lives with her mother and her memory. Her brother’s return reveals that her grief has taken an unexpected form. Selena loves her mother more than anything, enough to defy death itself. But how far can love go when it refuses to let go?

We talked to Hanane Sarin to find out why she chose this topic to produce a film and how it was for her to balance out being the film maker while parallely being one of the protagonists at the set.

Sarin is a self-taught Franco-Moroccan filmmaker and screenwriter based in Paris. A former actress and content creator, she discovered in writing and directing a powerful way to transform personal experiences into universal stories. Her debut short film — which she wrote, directed, and starred in — explores grief with striking rawness and fragility. Through an authentic and deeply sensitive approach to storytelling, she makes emotion the very language of her cinema.

While many films approach death as a narrative device, Prescription stands apart, earning the recognition of the jury through its intimate and emotionally charged perspective. Although death lies at the heart of the story, the film examines it on a deeper and more personal level: mourning is not portrayed as an ending, but as a universal experience that unsettles, transforms, and profoundly shapes those left behind.

With Prescription, Sarin explores the fragile boundary between lucidity and madness, between intimate pain and raw psychological drama. By choosing only one confined setting, she intensifies the emotional pressure of the narrative, drawing the audience directly into the psychological descent of her protagonist.

“The topic of my film is death. For many, it is the end of a film. For me, it is the beginning. The film is about grief, something we all go through, something that changes us. I also chose to set this film in a single space, almost as a chamber piece, in order to remain focused on the very heart of the subject and to immerse the audience fully within it.”

The film serves not only as a powerful standalone work, but also as the foundation for a much larger vision. Sarin intends to expand Prescription into a feature-length project that further examines the complexity of grief and human vulnerability. 

“My aim was for the audience to feel trapped alongside my character, to share their suffocation, their descent, and to be confronted with the brutal reality of grief. We all face it, and it reveals who we are. It is a first statement of mine, and I want to develop this idea further and dive even deeper into it in another project.”

Hanane Sarin was not only the director and creative force behind the film, but also its leading actress. Balancing both roles presented a major challenge, requiring her to constantly shift between emotional immersion in the character and the technical demands of directing. Despite the intensity of that process, she succeeded in creating a debut marked by striking honesty, fragility, and control.

Now let’s take a closer look at a documentary by Samuel Vela that managed to move both the audience and the jury with his work. It tells the story of a survivor of sexual violence in Ethiopia, offering an intimate insight at her trauma and the challenges women endure in her daily life. The film examines how women navigate such experiences and how silence itself can evolve into a powerful source of resilience. 

Special Jury Mention #2

SAMUEL VELA – THE STRENGTH OF SILENCE

In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, The Strength of Silence follows the life of Letebirhan, a 17-year-old girl whose life was fractured by war. Kidnapped, a survivor of sexual violence, and left to raise a child born from trauma, she faces rejection from her community and family. Her survival relies not only on the bread she bakes to sustain herself but also on an ancestral ritual: the coffee ceremony, where women like her transform silence into a powerful act of resistance and sisterhood.

Samuel Vela Pérez is a Hispanic-Bolivian filmmaker born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Since his debut directorial project, Voluntary Return, he has pursued a sensitive and socially engaged approach to filmmaking. Currently he is developing The Journey of the Wind, a feature-length documentary in Bolivia, and leads the production and writing team for the Mexican documentary The Sound of My Identity. With The Strength of Silence, he once again brings a sensitive subject to the screen, one that resonates deeply and continues to engage audiences long after viewing.

In just 20-minutes, the documentary manages to bring the lived experience of these women into an emotional focus. It doesn’t just recount trauma—it allows us to sense how they carry it, how they process it, and how they continue to navigate life in its aftermath. At the same time, it highlights the Ethiopian coffee ceremony as a deeply rooted cultural ritual: a shared space where women gather, exchange quiet intimacy, and build forms of unspoken solidarity while subtly exposing how personal suffering often collides with rigid communal norms that leave little room for vulnerability.

The title The Strength of Silence discovers silence not framed as absence, but as something rather protective, almost active in its own way. Within it, strength emerges through endurance, dignity, and a certain emotional restraint. This film very much deserves wider recognition!

Special Jury Mention #2

Another category that speaks for itself and left an impression at this year’s ÉCU: Ronen Eldars music video Bush is truly award-worthy. It is a fierce, body-positive music video for Iranian-American artist Dornika. Through bold choreography, stylised visuals, and a defiant pop sound, Bush challenges beauty norms around hair and proudly affirms self-expression. The whole team still can’t get the dance music and the colorful, provocative visuals of the video out of their heads. Don’t miss this feast for the senses!

RONEN ELDAR – BUSH

Ronen Eldar is the creative mind behind Bush. He is a French-Israeli artist and filmmaker, whose nomadic childhood and life make it difficult for him to call anywhere truly home. This in-betweenness has nurtured an open curiosity. With a candid approach, he explores themes around perception, how one decides to exist and navigate through this world, and the myths we surround ourselves with. His experience also continues to shape his current projects, including Bush, which reflects his creativity and is strongly driven by positive energy and good vibes.

“Working with Dornika to make this music video and create the world it exists in was such an exciting and fulfilling endeavour. We wanted to create a music video that resonates with the lyrics and the music’s vibrant energy while also keeping the subject matter real, in an honest and celebratory way.”

Bush is a music video carrying a message of positivity, self-love, and the representation of marginalized groups that stands for diversity is not always easy to realize. Ronan Eldar describes that producing such a project also came with challenges. Nevertheless, the effort ultimately paid off. And it is no coincidence that the film received an award at this year’s ÉCU festival.

“We aimed to include a wide range of bodies in the film, particularly those that are often underrepresented. However, as the music video was a low-budget production, we were unable to compensate everyone involved. This highlighted how people from marginalized groups continue to face higher barriers to representation, even when filmmakers are committed to diversity.”

Ronan Eldar is currently developing several upcoming projects that explore a range of topics. One of his next works is a fictional short film centered on 90mil, a cultural space for artists in Berlin that exists only temporarily, as developers are expected to eventually demolish the building. We are curious and excited about what is to come!