Hi, we’re Aral Sea.
We produce bold, author-driven films rooted in real stories and original perspectives. We’re dedicated to non-fiction storytelling that challenges the mainstream and speaks across borders.
Alongside hands-on creative producing, we support projects in development, helping filmmakers shape early ideas into strong, fundable proposals ready for the next stage.
￫ Big in Gazi Baba
Feature-Length Documentary Film in Development
Logline
Sadije, a 14-year-old wrestling champion in North Macedonia, navigates expectations to fulfill a male role, defying traditional gender norms and ethnic barriers in her Albanian-Muslim community.
Workshops and Pitchings
PriFest Forum – September 2023 (Vanessa Redgrave Award for Best Pitch)
Balkan Film Market Pitching – December 2023
East Doc Forum | East Doc Platform – March 2024 (Docs Ireland Award)
Go East East West Talent Lab and Pitching | goEast – April 2024
Sheffield Doc Fest Meet Market – June 2024
DocIreland – June 2024 Beyond Borders Audiovisual Pitch Lab – August 2024
AJB Industry Days Main Pitch – September 2024 (Cannes Docs – Marché du Film Award), (IDF – East Silver Caravan Award), (Eurodoc Award for the Best Pitch)
Cannes Docs Spotlight Project – Marché du Film - May 2025
EsoDoc 2025 Cohort - May 2025
Team
Director: Pauline Blanchet
Producers: Pauline Blanchet / Aral Sea Productions, Avdi Thachi / Lumiere Films, Aymeric Isnard / Futur Anterieur, Kreshnik Jonuzi / Top Neck Films
Editor: Avdi Thachi Cinematographer: Fisnik Halili
￫ Surviving a Demolition (Working Title)
Short Documentary Film | In Production
Logline
Forty years of demolitions have shattered communities on the outskirts of Paris, forcing residents to repeatedly witness the erasure of their homes. As the last remaining building awaits destruction, its inhabitants ask: what does it mean to lose one’s home?
Industry Presentations
Dok Leipzig – Short n Sweet Pitch Session – October 2023
Jihlava New Visions Market – October 2024
Team
Co-Directors: Pauline Blanchet, Django Burdeau
Producer: Pauline Blanchet
Editor & Cinematographer: Django Burdeau
￫ Looking for the Russian Boy
Short Documentary Film | In Development
Logline
While browsing a flea market in Moscow, Elisabeth Blanchet discovers a decades-old film camera. Inside is a roll of undeveloped film. Upon processing it in France, a series of haunting black-and-white portraits of a young boy emerge—prompting her to return to Moscow and search for the boy captured in the forgotten images.
Team
Elisabeth Blanchet, Katrin Ebersohn
Producer: Pauline Blanchet
￫ Beyond the Red Light
Short Documentary Film | In Post-Production
Logline
An intimate portrait of Lila, North Macedonia’s most prolific trans sex worker. As she guides us through Skopje’s underground sex work scene, she begins to question how much she is willing to compromise in order to have her story heard.
Workshops & Forums
CEDOC Market by DOC LAB POLAND – Krakow Film Festival, 2022
MakeCoProDox Forum – Makedox, 2022
Team
Directors: Milla Lewis, Sabrina Jones
Assistant Director & Producer: Pauline Blanchet
Cinematography: Milla Lewis, Pauline Blanchet
Production: Aral Sea Productions
￫ Champion of the Periphery
Feature-Length Documentary Film | In Development
Logline
In the shadow of the 2024 Olympic construction sites on the edge of Paris, 19-year-old Adem—a French-Tunisian aspiring athlete—sets his sights on an American football scholarship to North America, navigating the weight of ambition, identity, and the marginalisation of the banlieue.
Workshops
Dox in Vitro Development Workshop – September 2022
Team
Co-Directors: Pauline Blanchet, Adem Souissi
Producer: Pauline Blanchet / Aral Sea Productions
Production Partner: Les Steppes Productions
￫ Naia the Narwhal (XR Project)
Immersive Documentary Experience | In Production
Logline
Amidst rising Arctic noise pollution, Naia—a bold and curious narwhal—becomes the first animal content creator, using social media to expose an environmental crisis. Her journey through icy waters sparks a movement, challenging humans to listen, understand, and act.
Awards
Winning Pitch – #arcticstories
Workshops & Residencies
Future of Film Incubator – August 2023
Sónar+D Festival, Presentation Forum – June 2023
FRAMM Centre Presentation – June 2023
TVIBIT Arctic Residency – June 2023
Team
Directors: Pauline Blanchet, Ester Almagro I De Toro, Lisa Milanesio
Collaborators
Garage Stories
TVIBIT
New Images Festival – Forum des Images
￫ Zuckerberg, You Owe/Own Me
Short Documentary Film | 15'01" | 2022
Logline
A deep exploration into a personal Facebook video archive uncovers the internet’s darker historical roots. By tracing the link between personal data and digital infrastructure, the film asks: can we truly separate the virtual from the material—and from ourselves?
Screenings
Labocine Live – October 2024
KINOKI XVIII International University Film Festival – October 2024 (Official Selection & Best International Short Documentary)
Uncanny Valleys, Immaterial Film Club – July 2024
SHORTS – April 2024 (Official Selection)
Association of American Geographers – April 2024 (Official Selection)
London Short Film Festival – January 2024 (Official Selection)
Geneva Film Festival – November 2023 (Official Selection)
TRANÅS AT THE FRINGE – July 2023 (Official Selection)
Student Cuts – May 2023 (Official Selection)
Sci-On! – May 2023 (Honorable Mention)
Academia Film Olomouc – May 2023 (Official Selection)
Images Festival – April 2023 (Official Selection)
Immix Gallery, Alchimies Numeriques – April 2023 (Group Exhibition)
Galleri KiT, MANIFEST/O – April 2023 (Group Exhibition)
City Film Festival – March 2023 (Finalist)
21 Islands International Short Film Festival – January 2023 (Official Selection)
United Artist International Film Festival – January 2023 (Official Selection)
Kalamata Monthly International Short Documentary Festival – November 2022 (Semi-Finalist)
16th Ethnographic Films Review Eyes and Lenses – November 2022 (Official Selection)
Student World Impact Film Festival – November 2022 (Official Selection & Honorable Mention)
Experimental Film Fest – October 2022 (Official Selection)
Theatre Deli Delivision – October 2022 (10-day Solo Exhibited Screening)
Breaking the Frame – September 2022 (Official Selection)
Team
Director, Producer & Editor: Pauline Blanchet
￫ Skopje 2014 According to ChatGPT
Short Documentary Film | 5' | 2023
Logline
Exploring the synergy between artificial intelligence, the internet, and urban metamorphosis, this experimental short unravels the transformation of a capital city. Through the lens of the controversial Skopje 2014 project, it reveals how AI and social media both document and distort nationalist revitalisation and urban design.
Screenings
Jornada Audiovisual e Inteligencia Artificial – October 2024 (Official Selection)
Labocine Live – October 2024
Uncanny Valleys, Immaterial Film Club – July 2024
+RAIN, Skopje 2014 according to ChatGPT – June 2024 (Official Selection)
East Meets West Screening, Studio Hannibal – October 2023 (Group Exhibition)
Student International Film Festival – November 2023 (Official Selection)
Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) – April 2024 (Official Selection)
Team
Director & Producer: Pauline Blanchet
Collaborators
Open City UCL – Multisensory Filmmaking Cohort, 2023
￫ Through Her Eyes
Short Documentary Film | 9' | 2022
Logline
What does the climate crisis look like through her eyes? From environmental activists to filmmakers, women around the world share how climate change affects their lives. This collaborative documentary challenges the mainstream narrative and calls for a gendered response to the climate crisis.
Screenings & Talks
SUNCINE International Environmental Film Festival – November 2023 (Official Selection)
DISACCORDI – International Short Film Festival – November 2023 (Official Selection)
Travel Up Film Festival – July 2023 (Official Selection)
SWIFF – June 2023 (Official Selection)
Bewnow Film Festival @ Falmouth Art Gallery – March 2023 (Official Selection & Speaker)
Hive Conference – March 2022 (Live Speaker)
Eden Project's Festival of Discovery: Stories from the Stage – November 2021 (Live Speaker)
Reporting Earth Summit – September 2021 (Live Speaker)
Team
Co-Directors: Pauline Blanchet, Aarushi, Aruhan, Marlyn Basa, Mora Siregar, Natalie, Sharona Shnayder
Producer: Pauline Blanchet
￫ Jeyetna
Feature-Length Documentary Film | 67' | 2022
Logline
Since 2019, period products have become unaffordable for nearly three-quarters of the Lebanese population. Jeyetna draws ten intimate portraits of women navigating period poverty—across age, class, and identity—amid Lebanon’s worsening economic and political collapse.
Synopsis
Set against the backdrop of a collapsing healthcare system and economic freefall, Jeyetna captures the stories of women experiencing period poverty in Lebanon. From Amira, a refugee from Syria, to Gigi, a transgender woman, and Funmi, a Nigerian migrant worker, the film reveals a cross-section of voices too often unheard. Through these personal testimonies, the film not only confronts a public health emergency but also seeks to break the silence around menstruation and dignity.
Team
Director: Evelina Llewellyn
Producers: Evelina Llewellyn, Pauline Blanchet
￫ Hope is Lost
Short Animated Film | In Production
Logline
Ten days before the millennium, Hope arrives in London from Nigeria with her two infant children and little more than her name. When their initial shelter plans collapse, they are forced to seek refuge from a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A haunting tale of displacement, resilience, and survival.
Team
Writer, Director & Animator: Eno Enefiok
Directors of Photography: Jerry Amadi-Pradon
Producers: Pauline Blanchet, Adam Smith, Mikel Iriarte, Eno Enefiok
Puppets & Sets: Eno Enefiok
Production Company: Needle and Hey
￫ Like a Fish Out of Water
Short Documentary Film | 18' | 2021
Logline
As the Grand Paris Express and the 2024 Olympics reshape La Courneuve, this observational film captures a city in flux. Shot during August 2021—while the Tokyo Olympics are broadcast—residents reflect on urban change, memory, and belonging amid the noise of construction.
Screenings
CineVision Sud Film Festival – December 2022 (Official Selection)
Candid Arts Trust Film Night – March 2022 (Official Selection)
URBAN VISIONS: Architecture and the Future of Cities – March 2022 (Official Selection)
Team
Director, Producer & Editor: Pauline Blanchet
Production Assistant: Nicholas Pritchard
Translator & Subtitler: Dennis Sun
Graphic Design: Ruth Burgess
Partners
Funded by Ateliers Médicis
Produced in residence at FACE
￫ Caves With a View
Short Documentary Film | 8'44" | 2014
Logline
A quiet glimpse into the lives of modern-day cave dwellers in the hills of Granada, Spain. This short film explores alternative ways of living outside mainstream society.
Team
Director, Producer & Editor: Pauline Blanchet