Passes & Tickets
Festival and Online Content Passes
2022 Barnes Film Festival Event Tickets
Thursday 16th June 2022
Come and join us as we celebrate the launch night of the 2022 Barnes Film Festival with our opening film, Explorer!
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is credited as being the World’s Greatest Living Explorer. Among his extraordinary achievements he was the first to circumnavigate the world from pole to pole, crossed the Antarctic on foot, broke countless world records and discovered a lost city in Arabia. He has travelled to the most dangerous places on Earth, lost half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and was nearly cast as James Bond. But who is the man who prefers to be known as just ‘Ran’?
With exclusive access to Ran, his incredible film archive covering decades of expeditions and contributions from life-long friends and colleagues, EXPLORER tells the definitive story of an inspirational leader.
Friday 17th June 2022
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Sylvain’s Hunt, directed by Theo Cohn. Sylvain’s Hunt is a surreal depiction of something familiar. Miniatures, prosthetics, sightless driving mountain shots, puppets, gore effects, all serve to make a traditional Son and Father rite-of-passage hunting trip into an uncanny vision of maturation and masculinity.
Thanks For the Harmonica, directed by Jemimah Mensah Coke. A moving story about how Celeste, a curious hotel receptionist, helps a guest deal with his grief with a random act of kindness – a gift of a harmonica.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
A Little Bit of Paradise, directed by Andrzej Cichocki. A documentary story from the borderlands of realism and fairy tale, A Little Bit of Paradise is a film about a Silesian family. In an out-of-the-way corner of a metropolis, they reveal their world to the watcher and share moments from their lives, which are inextricably bound up with the nature around them.
Under the Forest, directed by Ryan Powell. Under the Forest of Dean a community of people continue the ancient practice of Freemining: a traditional way of mining for coal and iron ore in small scale mines passed on by oral tradition. This documentary is a snapshot of three of the last operational mines in the Forest, and the people that work them.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Eric, directed by David Yorke. Joshua finally gets to meet Eric, the beloved dog of a girl he’s been dating. As the evening evolves, Josh begins to get a sneaking suspicion that Eric isn’t your typical house pet.
Artistic Character, directed by Vasily Chuprina. When a quiet artist spends his time daydreaming of his muse, he inadvertently sets in motion a series of actions that he has no control of. A quiet life suddenly upturned with each event and with consequences.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Geisha L.O.V.E., directed by Mike V. Derderian. Geisha L.O.V.E. is a day in the life of a graffiti artist and her robot protector set in 2155. A tough, no nonsense renegade graffiti artist in a dystopian world, where graffiti is punishable by death.
Total Eclipse (of the heart), directed by Nicola Jane Francis. A woman in love makes an unexpected connection during a solar eclipse
Mama I’m Through, directed by Emma Morgan-Bennett. After the death of her 102-year-old great-grandmother during BLM protests, Emma seeks advice from her three friends about Black motherhood. Their words, paired with a montaged family archive, create a film that examines the lines between racial violence, resilience, and afro futures.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Love Letter to the dream I had next to you, directed by Yoni Ben-Haim. A recounting of a summer filled with love and adoration. By the agency of her dreams, the Narrator re-lives moments of a time filled with heightened raw emotions.
Jackson, directed by Emma Miranda Moore. Teenager Amira avoids a haunted house visit using her unique imagination. ‘Jackson’ is a rainbow-hued onion of memory and invented story - the layers of which are revealed by someone who wouldn’t have thought of telling you anything is wrong.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Man Up In Lockdown, directed by Ruicheng Liang. Exploring non-binary identity, Man Up in Lockdown follows Richard Energy, a provocative digital drag king born in the pandemic. Timely and moving, this film examines what it means to be an artist, driven by creativity and a desperate need to perform.
Cinema Now, directed by Louis Holder. A montage of images of closed cinemas during lockdown in London, captured on Super 8mm film. Cinema Now is a short, observational documentary that creates a capsule of a turbulent period in all our lives - the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Don Vs Lightening, directed by Big Red Button. All Don wants is a quiet life in the Scottish Highlands. Unfortunately the universe has other plans.
Lilian, directed by Cathy Tyson. The first black woman in the Royal Air Force, Lilian Bader, challenges the history books. Both she and her husband fought in WW2 yet there aren't any pictures of the contribution of black servicemen and women. Fifteen years after the war, Edith, a person she had tried to help, arrives at her door and brings new challenges. Why is she there? and why now?
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to see each other at a film festival… so why not head to our networking event and catch up! Festival Formula will be hosting the event with special industry guests from Film4, Film & TV Charity, Greenlit, Performance Media Insurance, and Genera Films. You’ll have the chance to chat to fellow industry creatives as well as hear more about how each company can help you with your next project. So put the date in your diary and get ready to come say hi!
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Find the Light, directed by Abdullah Khan. Zak Anwar, a young Pakistani boy, is continually victimised and sees no reprieve. Battered from his latest attack he decides to end the suffering and attempts to drown himself, only for the critical moment to reveal a purpose worth living for.
Bainne, directed by Jack Reynor. In the last year of The Great Famine in Ireland, a stoic farmhand survives working for the local landlord. When he encounters a ghostly figure stealing milk his morality is questioned, and is beguiled on a journey of faith.
Sponsored by Bonhams. Speed is Expensive brings to the screen one of the most dramatic stories in automotive history – the rise and the fall of the Vincent motorcycle. These fast, revolutionary machines were produced by eccentric engineer Philip Vincent and his small team in war-ravaged England.
What’s in store for us? What will we be like in 30 years? Will smart appliances take over our lives? And what will the last mechanic do when there are no more cars? This curated selection of shorts and animation will consider the possibility.
Featured Films are: The Last Mechanic, Down, You From the Future & Talk To The Can.
Winner of the audience award at this year's Glasgow film festival, Lizzie MacKenzie's tender documentary debut about the simplicities of life far from so-called civilisation proves especially poignant in our hyper-connected time. After 40 years of solitude, a spirited elderly hermit tackles ill health, a declining memory, and questions whether he can live out his last years in the wilderness he calls home.
On an isolated farm in what appears to be the 1800s, a family is led by their tyrannical father who preaches fire and brimstone, and their devout mother, who preaches obedience, living in fear of a higher power and the father demands blind faith and back-breaking labour. As he plots an uprising, pitting himself against his hell-bent father, he soon discovers that everything that has been told to him is a lie. This is followed by a Q&A with director Dan Slater and production designer Mercedes Coyle.
How to touch without touching? How to grow your perfect partner? How to be a good mother, daughter, sister without diluting yourself? This curated selection of shots, docs and animations takes a wry and witty glimpse at a woman’s world.
Featured Films are: Irani Bag, Everybody Needs Some (Dead) Body, All These Men That I’ve Done, Deep Clean, Planted & Love Ya Like Poison.
Saturday 18th June 2022
Masculinity, femininity and everything in between. This curated selection of short drama, doc and animation will explore gender expectations and performance in today's world.
Featured Films Are: Everybody Needs Some (Dead) Body, Drawings of My BF, All These Men That I’ve Done, A Dash, Irani Bag, Point Five, Where The Winds Die, Mani Pedi & Planted.
In this family-friendly workshop, join the School of Noise to explore the hidden world of Foley sound design. Foley sounds recreate the movements that characters and objects make on screen. This fun and interactive workshop offers you an opportunity to learn about the history of Foley; and record and perform your own sounds to bring pictures to life with sound.
A live demonstration and talk about the development of the newly released game, "The Quarry", from the makers of Until Dawn, using motion capture technology and horror filming techniques to create an immersive horror-filled experience for players. The director of the game, Will Byles, will be present at the event.
This is an intensive, insightful and interactive short course covering all aspects of pitching. Pitch Me Perfect is also lots of fun and with plenty of time for Q&A.
Voices in your head, anxiety, family dynamics and revenge. This curated collection of shorts, docs and animations explores the extremes of our emotions that bring us to the edge of reason. Featured Films are: Nice To Meet You All, The Fourth Wall, She, We Are Here & Caught.
View students work in the Youth Film Showcase. Supported by students from Ravensbourne University.
How to be manly in the modern world. From trying to impress on a date, to going straight, expressing your feminine side and coming of age with pride. This selection of shorts, docs and animation explores men’s matters.
Featured films are: Point Five, Another Father, Sylvain’s Hunt, Just Like You, Dash, Mani Padi & There Is Exactly Enough Time.
Join PosterSpy founder Jack Woodhams for a critical but light-hearted journey into some of this years best official and alternative movie posters. We will explore marketing campaigns from the last 12 months, look at trends in film advertising and review some of the best film posters from this year’s film festival. We'll also be exploring how alternative posters can aid a film's marketing strategy and help to increase visibility with potential audiences. Launched in 2014 PosterSpy.com is an online portfolio platform and global community for people who create alternative posters.
This selection of curated shorts, docs and animation considers families big and small, happy and sad, biological and psychological, and how they support us whether in a refugee camp or a suburban area. Featured Films are: Milk, Another Father, The Fourth Wall, Love Ya Like Poison, The Clearing, The Cost of Life, We Are Here, There Is Exactly Enough Time & The Stupid Boy.
How to touch without touching? How to grow your perfect partner? How to be a good mother, daughter, sister without diluting yourself? This curated selection of shots, docs and animations takes a wry and witty glimpse at a woman’s world. Feature Films are: Irani Bag, Everybody Needs Some (Dead) Body, All These Men That I’ve Done, Deep Clean, Planted & Love Ya Like Poison.
Come and join Peter Eszenyi at this Visual Effects workshop. Peter is a VFX Supervisor and Creative Director whose portfolio includes major motion pictures like Blade Runner 2049, Ghost In The Shell and Pacific Rim: Uprising. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society. He has recently completed work on the much anticipated "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" series for Netflix.
Get first hand insight into how to get your documentary film green lit. A panel hosted by Artistic Director of The Whickers Jane Ray talks with Sheffield Doc Fest winner Maythem Ridha and BFF Doc finalist David Lancaster. Whether you are coming from a direction of visual storytelling or a journalistic approach, come along and be inspired in documentary making and how to get your doc out there.
This selection of curated shorts considers families big and small, happy and sad, biological and psychological, and how they support us whether in a refugee camp or a suburban area. Featured Films are: A Little Bit of Paradise, Sunday Roast, The Cost of Life, The Clearing & Dajla: Cinema & Oblivion.
Two close friends both suffered from the same aggressive form of cancer. After years of treatment, one lived and the other died. And while many variables factored into what happened, the woman who survived — reporter Ibby Caputo — couldn't help wondering what role race had played in the outcome.
Warning: reference to sexual material and sex cult. Led by a mystical female founder, a cult masquerading as a wellness startup settles in the Catskills to build community and practice a ritual called Jilling Off. They believe that by prioritising female pleasure they will heal Mother Earth. The group faces prejudice and bureaucracy from the local townspeople, and begin to question their own motives as they strive to manifest utopia. This is followed by a Q&A with Director Jay Buim and co-writer Susan Juvet.
The event will start with animated shorts Where The Winds Die, a film that will melt your heart, and The Fourth Wall, a film about home and family, relationships, desires, wishes and everything is summarised in a kitchen.
Noura and Machi search for answers about their loved ones – Bassel Safadi and Paolo Dall’Oglio, who are among the over 100,000 forcibly disappeared in Syria. Faced with the limbo of an overwhelming absence of information, hope is the only thing they have to hold on to. ‘Ayouni’ is a deeply resonant Arabic term of endearment – meaning ‘my eyes’ and understood as ‘my love’. Filmed over 6 years and across multiple countries in search of answers, Ayouni is an attempt to give numbers faces, to give silence a voice, and to make the invisible undeniably visible.
Sunday 19th June 2022
Bring your Bikes to Eco day for a free bike check by Dr Bike (courtesy of Hammersmith and Fulham Council) and join all our talks for free.
BAFTA Albert, the authority on environmental sustainability for the Film & TV industry, are leading the charge against climate change with Line Producer and Albert Trainer Miranda Simmons, in this FREE event.
View a collection of themed short dramas, docs and animations that will stretch the meaning of the term, ‘Living on the Edge!’
Featured Films are: Nice To Meet You All, Just Like You, Down, Deep Clean, The Last Mechanic, Dajla: Cinema & Oblivion, Candle Cops & Matricide.
Water pollution is a major contributor to ecosystem collapse - it’s one of our frontlines on climate change, so how is this still allowed to happen on such a massive scale in the UK? How can the UK profess to be a global leader in the fight against climate change when we can’t even deal with our own shit? Join our panellists Sarah Olney, Steve Smith and Tom Loan, as we discuss the scale of the problem, how we got here, and what we should be doing to solve it. We will start this event with a screening of the short film ‘Swanscombe Cycle’ directed by George Cloke, a poetic, ecocentric portrayal of Swanscombe Peninsula: a biodiverse wetland and the proposed construction site for Europe’s largest theme park.
This selection of curated shorts considers families big and small, happy and sad, biological and psychological, and how they support us whether in a refugee camp or a suburban area.
Featured Films are: A Little Bit of Paradise, Sunday Roast, The Cost of Life, The Clearing & Dajla: Cinema & Oblivion.
A WaterBear Original Documentary.
This mini-documentary follows the historic lobbying by Canadian and US land defenders to stop the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The story exposes how marginalised communities have had their legal rights completely disregarded by the government in order to favour profit over people. This unprecedented event sets an example for environmental activist movements all over the world, showing that collective action can bring effective change
What’s in store for us? What will we be like in 30 years? Will smart appliances take over our lives? And what will the last mechanic do when there are no more cars? This curated selection of shorts and animation will consider the possibility.
Featured Films are: The Last Mechanic, Down, You From the Future & Talk To The Can.
Voices in your head, anxiety, family dynamics and revenge. This curated collection of shorts, docs and animations explores the extremes of our emotions that bring us to the edge of reason. Featured Films are: Nice To Meet You All, The Fourth Wall, She, We Are Here & Caught.
Directed by Alina Gorlova, we meet 20 year-old Andriy Suleyman who escaped Syria with his family, taking refuge in his mother’s native Ukraine. Shot in striking black-and-white, it is a sophisticated vision of war zones and the scars they leave.
A Thousand Hours is about Anna, musician from Copenhagen, her music dreams and her search for love - and herself. The film is a romantic drama and a music film with newly written music by up ‘n’ coming Scandinavian artists. It takes place in Berlin and Copenhagen and is shot in Copenhagen, Berlin & Malmo. This is followed by a Q&A with Director Carl Moberg and Actor Anders Manley.
Directed by Yelizaveta Smith and Georg Genoux, they invite children from a school in Donbass to talk about things that matter to them.
Monday 20th June 2022
How to touch without touching? How to grow your perfect partner? How to be a good mother, daughter, sister without diluting yourself? This curated selection of shots, docs and animations takes a wry and witty glimpse at a woman’s world.
Featured Films are: Irani Bag, Everybody Needs Some (Dead) Body, All These Men That I’ve Done, Deep Clean, Planted & Love Ya Like Poison.
This selection of curated shorts considers families big and small, happy and sad, biological and psychological, and how they support us whether in a refugee camp or a suburban area.
Featured Films are: A Little Bit of Paradise, Sunday Roast, The Cost of Life, The Clearing & Dajla: Cinema & Oblivion.
An everyday affair appears as a difficult path of reconciliation. Deeply rooted in the history of the United States of America, cultural confrontations arise between Thaddeus, a Northern Cheyenne native, and Nanci, a non-native woman.
A spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations - and Ethiopia's most lucrative cash crop today.
A single woman, a married man and a stalker. This is a love triangle of obsession, played out in our modern world of constant communication. This is followed by Q&A with director Jonathon Murphy and actors Melissa Woodbridge and Dan March.
1 Room. 2 People. 50 Days. $ 5 Million. Mike and Kate, a young couple, get the once-in-a lifetime chance to win a cool five million dollars. The challenge: Live for a month in a blank space. Sticking it out for thirty days, and the five million are theirs. How difficult can it be? This is followed by a pre-recorded Q & A with director Mukunda Michael Dewil.
In Roses, living through the Maidan Revolution of 2014, a pivotal moment in the history of their country, art became a way for radical cabaret act ‘Dakh Daughters Band’ to reflect upon those events and face the harsh reality of today’s Ukraine, with wisdom and hope. Film-Cabaret, directed by Irena Stetsenko.
Tuesday 21st June 2022
In times of crisis, throughout history, ordinary people instinctively step up to help each other in the absence of positive government action. On Our Doorstep tells the story of a humanitarian crisis in Calais, governments in paralysis, and untrained grassroots civilians attempting to fill the gap.
An everyday affair appears as a difficult path of reconciliation. Deeply rooted in the history of the United States of America, cultural confrontations arise between Thaddeus, a Northern Cheyenne native, and Nanci, a non-native woman.
How to be manly in the modern world. From trying to impress on a date, to going straight, expressing your feminine side and coming of age with pride. This selection of shorts, docs and animation explores men’s matters.
Featured films are: Point Five, Another Father, Sylvain’s Hunt, Just Like You, Dash, Mani Padi & There Is Exactly Enough Time.
In Roses, living through the Maidan Revolution of 2014, a pivotal moment in the history of their country, art became a way for radical cabaret act ‘Dakh Daughters Band’ to reflect upon those events and face the harsh reality of today’s Ukraine, with wisdom and hope. Film-Cabaret, directed by Irena Stetsenko.
While millions of birds migrate freely in the skies, Fadia, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, yearns for the ancestral homeland she is denied. She challenges the director, Sarah, to find an ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family’s existence. Along the way, Sarah meets with ornithologists and their observations on the homing instincts of the birds reveal the unresolved problems of the region. This story of a friendship that stays connected across a divided land and a fragmented people adopts a birds’ eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile and the hope of return.
Directed by Alina Gorlova, we meet 20 year-old Andriy Suleyman who escaped Syria with his family, taking refuge in his mother’s native Ukraine. Shot in striking black-and-white, it is a sophisticated vision of war zones and the scars they leave.
Wednesday 22nd June 2022
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Sylvain’s Hunt, directed by Theo Cohn. Sylvain’s Hunt is a surreal depiction of something familiar. Miniatures, prosthetics, sightless driving mountain shots, puppets, gore effects, all serve to make a traditional Son and Father rite-of-passage hunting trip into an uncanny vision of maturation and masculinity.
Thanks For the Harmonica, directed by Jemimah Mensah Coke. A moving story about how Celeste, a curious hotel receptionist, helps a guest deal with his grief with a random act of kindness – a gift of a harmonica.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
A Little Bit of Paradise, directed by Andrzej Cichocki. A documentary story from the borderlands of realism and fairy tale, A Little Bit of Paradise is a film about a Silesian family. In an out-of-the-way corner of a metropolis, they reveal their world to the watcher and share moments from their lives, which are inextricably bound up with the nature around them.
Under the Forest, directed by Ryan Powell. Under the Forest of Dean a community of people continue the ancient practice of Freemining: a traditional way of mining for coal and iron ore in small scale mines passed on by oral tradition. This documentary is a snapshot of three of the last operational mines in the Forest, and the people that work them.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Eric, directed by David Yorke. Joshua finally gets to meet Eric, the beloved dog of a girl he’s been dating. As the evening evolves, Josh begins to get a sneaking suspicion that Eric isn’t your typical house pet.
Artistic Character, directed by Vasily Chuprina. When a quiet artist spends his time daydreaming of his muse, he inadvertently sets in motion a series of actions that he has no control of. A quiet life suddenly upturned with each event and with consequences.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Geisha L.O.V.E., directed by Mike V. Derderian. Geisha L.O.V.E. is a day in the life of a graffiti artist and her robot protector set in 2155. A tough, no nonsense renegade graffiti artist in a dystopian world, where graffiti is punishable by death.
Total Eclipse (of the heart), directed by Nicola Jane Francis. A woman in love makes an unexpected connection during a solar eclipse
Mama I’m Through, directed by Emma Morgan-Bennett. After the death of her 102-year-old great-grandmother during BLM protests, Emma seeks advice from her three friends about Black motherhood. Their words, paired with a montaged family archive, create a film that examines the lines between racial violence, resilience, and afro futures.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Love Letter to the dream I had next to you, directed by Yoni Ben-Haim. A recounting of a summer filled with love and adoration. By the agency of her dreams, the Narrator re-lives moments of a time filled with heightened raw emotions.
Jackson, directed by Emma Miranda Moore. Teenager Amira avoids a haunted house visit using her unique imagination. ‘Jackson’ is a rainbow-hued onion of memory and invented story - the layers of which are revealed by someone who wouldn’t have thought of telling you anything is wrong.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Man Up In Lockdown, directed by Ruicheng Liang. Exploring non-binary identity, Man Up in Lockdown follows Richard Energy, a provocative digital drag king born in the pandemic. Timely and moving, this film examines what it means to be an artist, driven by creativity and a desperate need to perform.
Cinema Now, directed by Louis Holder. A montage of images of closed cinemas during lockdown in London, captured on Super 8mm film. Cinema Now is a short, observational documentary that creates a capsule of a turbulent period in all our lives - the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Don Vs Lightening, directed by Big Red Button. All Don wants is a quiet life in the Scottish Highlands. Unfortunately the universe has other plans.
Lilian, directed by Cathy Tyson. The first black woman in the Royal Air Force, Lilian Bader, challenges the history books. Both she and her husband fought in WW2 yet there aren't any pictures of the contribution of black servicemen and women. Fifteen years after the war, Edith, a person she had tried to help, arrives at her door and brings new challenges. Why is she there? and why now?
Barnes Film Festival are proud to 8 showcases with an entertaining mix of short films, docs and animation in 8 half hour slot programmes.
Find the Light, directed by Abdullah Khan. Zak Anwar, a young Pakistani boy, is continually victimised and sees no reprieve. Battered from his latest attack he decides to end the suffering and attempts to drown himself, only for the critical moment to reveal a purpose worth living for.
Bainne, directed by Jack Reynor. In the last year of The Great Famine in Ireland, a stoic farmhand survives working for the local landlord. When he encounters a ghostly figure stealing milk his morality is questioned, and is beguiled on a journey of faith.
Come and celebrate the closing event of the 2022 Barnes Film Festival and view the winning film shorts! Cara Sheppard, managing director of Twickenham Studios alongside Sam Cullis, Director of Barnes Film Festival will be announcing this year's winners.
Contact contact@barnesfilmfestival.com to get them!
The event will start with animated shorts Where The Winds Die, a film that will melt your heart, and The Fourth Wall, a film about home and family, relationships, desires, wishes and everything is summarised in a kitchen.
Noura and Machi search for answers about their loved ones – Bassel Safadi and Paolo Dall’Oglio, who are among the over 100,000 forcibly disappeared in Syria. Faced with the limbo of an overwhelming absence of information, hope is the only thing they have to hold on to. ‘Ayouni’ is a deeply resonant Arabic term of endearment – meaning ‘my eyes’ and understood as ‘my love’. Filmed over 6 years and across multiple countries in search of answers, Ayouni is an attempt to give numbers faces, to give silence a voice, and to make the invisible undeniably visible.