gender-based violence - The Film Verdict

Aicha

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Aug 3, 2026 | Amman 2026, Verdict Shorts |

A mother goes to extreme and mystical lengths to reconnect with her daughter in Aicha, a disquieting, fragmentary and politically pointed folk horror-inflected short.

Second Skin

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Feb 3, 2026 | Festivals, Featured, Rotterdam 2026, Verdict Shorts |

The collaboration between three filmmakers to re-enact sexual assaults suffered by Russian women, Second Skin, is a staggering and imperative act of bearing witness.