Gibraltarian filmmaker Moe Acharki wins People's Choice Award for The Haunted House Hotel

Moe Acharki’s short film, The Haunted House Hotel, recently won the People's Choice Award at a film event in Wolverhampton, UK. 

He called the win “a huge success for myself and my film career, especially as a Gibraltarian.” 

Speaking to the Chronicle, Mr Acharki said that The Haunted House Hotel began as an unexpected challenge during his year-long internship at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2023 but that it has gone “on to become one of the most rewarding filmmaking experiences of my career so far.” 

He explained that during his internship, he primarily worked within Nu Boyana’s Distribution Department, where he had the opportunity to gain experience and credits on productions including The Expendables 4 (2023), The Bricklayer (2023) and The Piper (2023), alongside working on other projects such as Refuge (2023). 

In addition, whenever he had the opportunity, he tried to gain as much practical experience on set as possible. 

“Being based at a working film studio gave me an invaluable opportunity to experience different areas of the industry and learn from the people around me,” he said.  

“However, my main passion has always been directing.” 

“Before arriving at Nu Boyana, I had already directed two award-winning short films during my time at the University of Wolverhampton, A Part of it All (2021) and The Eyes in the Box (2022).” 

“After some encouragement from my manager at Nu Boyana, I decided that I wanted to take the next step and direct a short film within a professional studio environment.” 

“That ambition became The Cost of the Crown, my latest short film.” 

However, while he was developing that project, another opportunity presented itself. 

He explained that the CEO of Nu Boyana, Yariv Lerner, approached him and asked whether he would simultaneously direct a second short film for students from the studio’s in-house vocational training centre, Film Forge.  

“The idea was to place the students into a realistic film production environment where they could crew on an actual project and experience the pressures, responsibilities and collaboration involved in working on a professional film set,” he said.  

“The challenge was that I had very little time to make it happen.” 

“I was given approximately five days of pre-production and just two days in which to shoot the entire film, all while continuing to work on The Cost of the Crown at the same time.” 

“I took those requirements and immediately sent them to my frequent collaborator, award-winning writer Mat Growcott. Mat somehow managed to take all of those restrictions and produce an entire screenplay within a single sitting, which meant we could move almost immediately into preparing the film for production,” he said. 

“That film became The Haunted House Hotel.” 

TWO-DAY SHOOT

Despite the pressures, Mr Acharki said that the two-day shoot itself was an “incredibly enjoyable experience” with “a real sense that everybody involved wanted to make the most of the opportunity. The students were enthusiastic and passionate about filmmaking, while the professionals who came on board provided an extraordinary amount of support and experience”.  

Mr Acharki is particularly grateful for the encouragement he received from his manager, Dimo, and colleague, Ioan, in the Distribution Department, as well as from Mr Growcott, who flew from the UK to Bulgaria specifically to assist with the production with a number of veteran industry professionals, including the fight choreographer and lead actors, bringing their experience of working on major productions to the film. 

“For me, one of the most memorable things about the shoot was the atmosphere,” he said. 

“Everyone seemed genuinely excited to be there and passionate about what they were doing. That collective enthusiasm became a huge part of what made the film special.” 

“Over the following 24 hours, I worked tirelessly to assemble a first cut of the film so that we could screen it for the students,” he said. 

After that, he continued working on the film, taking significantly more time to refine the edit and complete the project properly.  

Once he was finally satisfied with the finished article, The Haunted House Hotel received its official premiere at the WLV Screen Awards in Wolverhampton in May 2024, returning in 2025 and was also selected to screen at the Academy Award-qualifying In the Palace International Short Film Festival in Sofia, bringing the film back to Bulgaria. 

Then, in 2026, he became acquainted with the team behind VEEU. 

“At one of these events, my latest short film The Cost of the Crown, was being screened when one of VEEU’s managers approached me and introduced themselves,” he said. 

“We spoke about filmmaking and their recently launched distribution platform and exchanged contact details. Not long afterwards, I was approached about submitting one of my films to their first in-person film event, REVEEU.” 

“The format was particularly interesting because, following an initial jury selection, the successful films entered a public voting stage.” 

“Filmmakers then had to promote their work and encourage audiences to vote, with the 12 films receiving the highest number of votes earning the opportunity to screen at the Lockworks Cinema in Wolverhampton.”  

Mr Acharki decided to submit The Haunted House Hotel. 

After the screenings, members of the audience were given a voting paper and asked to select their favourite film of the evening, with the votes counted live. 

“Hearing The Haunted House Hotel announced as the film that had received the most audience votes was an incredible moment. We had won the People’s Choice Award,” he said. 

“For a film that had originally been conceived, written and prepared in a matter of days, under considerable time pressure and primarily as an educational opportunity for filmmaking students, it was an amazing feeling to see an audience respond to it three years later.” 

“Receiving the award felt like a celebration not just of the finished film, but of everybody who had given their time, talent and enthusiasm to making it possible.” 

The Haunted House Hotel has now been nominated at the RTF Realtime International Film Festival and is due to screen in Worcester later this month. 

“I am incredibly proud of how far the film has travelled, and even more grateful to everyone who helped create it, supported it and voted for it along the way,” he said. 

“I hope audiences continue to enjoy stepping into the strange and kooky world of The Haunted House Hotel.” 

“The film now has a home, but its journey is far from over. I’m still hoping to see it screened on as many big screens as possible, while also taking my latest short film, The Cost of the Crown, to new audiences.” 

“One of my personal ambitions is to one day bring both films to Gibraltar and have the opportunity to screen them there,” and “as a Gibraltarian of Moroccan descent, I would also love to make films in Tangier, where my parents are originally from. Gibraltar and Morocco are both important parts of my identity, and I would love the opportunity to explore those connections through my filmmaking,” he said.  

The Haunted House Hotel is available at https://veeu.tv/ where audiences can rent and stream the film.