2 PM, Mushrooms and Animation Presentation and Family Program (Ages 8+) - New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center (The Blue Hall)

Fungi lecture by Dima Al Srouri, MycoSphere

With a family activity

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Fungi: The Web of Life directed by Gisela Kaufmann and Joseph Nizeti (Australia, 45 min)

• Much of life on Earth is connected by a vast, hidden network that we are only just beginning to understand. Out of sight, between the world of plants and animals, another world exists, the kingdom of fungi. Through the eyes of passionate biologist and writer Merlin Sheldrake, Fungi: The Web of Life travels the world, exploring the secret world of fungi. Narrated by Björk.

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Award-Winning Animation shorts for kids ages 8+

• Pie dan lo (Black Tide) directed by Kim Yip Tong (Mauritius & France, 14 min)

• L’arbre (The Tree) directed by Lucie Sunková (France & Czech Republic, 15 min)

• La Légende du colibri (The Legend of the Hummingbird) directed by Morgan Devos (France, 9 min)

• Le chant du cachalot (Whale’s Song) directed by Adeline Faye (France & Belgium, 12 min)

• Le Parapluie (The Umbrella) directed by Claire Ledru (France, 16 min)

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The Mole and the Bulldozer directed by Zdeněk Miler (Czechoslovakia, 7 min)

• From Zdeněk Miler's much-loved Krtek series, this short animation is made for children and understood in any language. The Mole's meadow is torn open by construction machinery, and what follows is a small, funny, and quietly furious lesson in habitat loss.​​

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5 PM, Mending Science with Love - New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center (The Blue Hall)

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Chuuraa directed by Evgenia Arbugaeva (UK, 18 min)

• In the Siberian Arctic, indigenous Sakha palaeontologist Aisen Klimovskii descends into caves in the melting permafrost in search of an ancient creature. A world premiere at Berlinale Shorts 2026, from the director of the Oscar-nominated Haulout.​

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Conservation Diaries, Part 3 (UAE, 15 min)

• A five-part documentary series produced by Connect with Nature, the youth environmental movement of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi and Emirates Nature–WWF. Shot across the wadis, coastlines, mangrove forests and rural communities of the UAE, each episode follows scientists, volunteers and local custodians at work.

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Fire of Love directed by Sara Dosa (USA & Canada, 93 min)

• Katia and Maurice Krafft spent twenty years filming volcanoes from closer than anyone should, and died together at Mount Unzen in 1991. Sara Dosa assembles their story from the extraordinary 16mm archive they left behind. An Academy Award-nominated film.

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8 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center (The Blue Hall)

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Manthan (4k restoration) directed by Shyam Benegal (India, 134 min)

• Introduced by Surabhi Sharma: Placing the Film in Its History

• A landmark of Indian parallel cinema, financed by 500,000 Gujarati dairy farmers contributing two rupees apiece. A veterinarian arrives in a village to organise a milk cooperative and collides with caste, money, and entrenched power. Newly restored in 4K.