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OCTOBER 9
7 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Welcome and opening remarks
Conservation Diaries, Part 1 (20 min)
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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.
Ghost Elephants directed by Werner Herzog (USA, 98 min)
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Werner Herzog follows conservation biologist Steve Boyes and a team of KhoiSan master trackers into the mist-covered highlands of Angola, in search of a herd of elephants long thought lost to decades of civil war. A National Geographic Documentary Films production that premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
OCTOBER 10
2 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Fungi: Web of Life directed by Gisela Kaufmann and Joseph Nizeti (Australia, 45 min)
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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.
The Mole and the Bulldozer directed by Zdeněk Miler (Czechoslovakia, 7 min)
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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.
5 PM, Mending Science with Love - New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Chuuraa directed by Evgenia Arbugaeva (United Kingdom, 18 min)
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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.
Conservation Diaries, Part 2 (15 min)
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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.
Fire of Love directed by Sara Doa (USA & Canada, 93 min)
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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.
7:30 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Talk: Mending Food Systems
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Moderated conversation on food, land, and structural repair; speakers to be announced.
8 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Manthan directed by Shyam Benegal (India, 134 min)
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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.
OCTOBER 11
2 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Short film program and panel
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Speakers and theme TBD
5 PM, From Water to Repair - New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Seeds of Dignity directed by Ali Al Sheikh (Lebanon, 30 min)
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A short documentary following Buzuruna Juzuruna, a collective of farmers and seed activists in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley who gather, multiply, and distribute heirloom seeds, reviving ancient wheat varieties and putting food back into the hands of small farmers.
Apple Cider Vinegar directed by Sofie Benoot (Belgium & Netherlands, 80 min)
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What connects a kidney stone, a volcano in Cape Verde, and an English geologist? Sofie Benoot's playful essay film follows the question outward from a single stone into quarries, lava fields and laboratories, narrated by Siân Phillips. World premiere at Visions du Réel 2024.
7:30 PM, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Talk: Water and the UAE
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Speaker TBC
8:00 PM, Mending with Water - New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center
Ice Merchants directed by João Gonzalez (Portugal, France, & the United Kingdom, 14 min)
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A father and son live in a house nailed to a vertical cliff. Each day they jump, parachuting down to the village below to sell the ice they froze overnight. Wordless, hand-drawn, and unforgettable. This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Time and Water directed by Sara Dosa (Iceland & USA, 93 min)
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Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, asked to write the eulogy for the first glacier declared dead by climate change, turns his family archive into a time capsule. From Sara Dosa, director of Fire of Love. Premiered at Sundance 2026.