WORLD FILM SCREENING SCHEDULE
Immerse yourself in world cinema, award-winning anthropological films, and exclusive director welcome presentations at F5IFF 2026.
World Cinema & Anthropological Showcase
Roxana - a climate story
Directed by Mathias Schweikert, Tobias Schäfer
In the Peruvian Amazon, many Indigenous communities still live without reliable access to electricity or the internet. At the same time, large fossil fuel projects cut through the region. In Alto Mishagua, this contradiction sets the backdrop for the story of Roxana. When Roxana returns during the pandemic, her home feels more isolated than ever, and the warnings of the elders grow more urgent: their forest is changing, the rains are shifting, and life is becoming more uncertain. Together with other young people, she begins to imagine a different future built on clean and independent energy.
The Guardian of the Great Gobi
Directed by Gan-Ochir - Enebish
The Great Gobi in Mongolia is the final frontier of the Central Asian desert a landscape of haunting beauty and brutal extremes. Though shielded by law since 1975, this fragile ecosystem now faces a dual threat: a rapidly shifting climate and the relentless march of industrial ambition. At the heart of this struggle is one of the rarest inhabitants on Earth: The Mazaalai - Gobi bear (Ursus arctos gobiensis). A unique lineage that split from the brown bear 10,000 years ago, their numbers have plummeted from tens of thousands to fewer than 30 individuals. In the vast, 4.6-million-hectare expanse of “Zone A”, finding one is no longer a matter of science it is a matter of luck. Through four unforgiving seasons, we follow the scientists and conservationists fighting to bridge the gap between extinction and survival. Can a Mazaalai survive the desert? And more importantly, can we survive the loss of the Great Gobi’s soul?
ENVISION
Directed by Parnita Kundu
Water hyacinth has a harmless appearance that belies the serious harm it does to aquatic ecosystems. "Envision" aims to shed light on the environmental repercussions of the water hyacinth's unchecked growth while also presenting a ray of hope that emerged in the form of a visionary individual who took action to clean up the water by doing something inventive.
Maasai Eunoto
Directed by Kire Godal
Through the voices of warriors and elders during their emotional rite of passage in 2022, ‘Maasai Eunoto’ follows the vanishing Maasai warrior passage to elder-hood revealing the hidden past & present of one of Africa’s most important, cultural initiation ceremonies. The indigenous Maasai are fighting to keep their traditions alive today. The Eunoto Ceremony is on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.
Majhdhaar
Directed by Sneha Kumar, Vishakha Singh (co-director)
Majhdhaar is a short documentary that leans in to listen to the voices of Kalpi’s slowly disintegrating handmade paper industry. Resting in Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district, Kalpi was once revered for turning rags into a valued craft, but since the onset of manufactured cheaper paper has now drifted into the margins trying to survive the new order of demand. Through the stories of artisans, the film traces the journey of Kalpi’s handmade paper, its origins, its significance across time, and the challenges faced in the present day. The narrative captures personal accounts of resilience and hardship, revealing how the makers remain deeply connected to their craft despite the uncertainties that surround them. The title Majhdhaar, meaning “midstream,” serves as a metaphor for the makers and their work caught between tradition and modernity, heritage and survival. At its heart, the film reflects on dignity, human endurance, ultimately leaving the audience with an open question: after centuries of effort to preserve this craft, what more can be done to ensure its future?
🍱 Lunch Break & Networking
Talk Show
Can Reel save the roots?
Aana Jaana
Ganesh Utsav has always been presented in the most grand, auspicious form, until NOW. AANA JAANA is not a documentary, not a vlog — it’s an EXPERIENCE. A cinema experiment. Each chapter questions the rituals, the stories, the spectacle... on how we treat Ganpati as our own child & then throw him like it never meant anything.
Ziro - A Hidden Gem of India
Hidden in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, Ziro Valley is a place where nature, culture, and tradition come together in a landscape unlike anywhere else. From its mist-covered mountains and vast green paddy fields to the unique traditions of the Apatani people, Ziro carries a quiet beauty that deserves to be discovered. But its charm does not stop at its borders, people from different parts of the world have reacted with awe and curiosity to the landscapes and culture of this remarkable valley. This film brings together the beauty of Ziro and reactions from around the world, showing how a place tucked away in Northeast India can inspire wonder far beyond its own mountains.
KUR – the mother of rivers
Directed by Seyran Mahmudoghlu Badalov
The film crew, looking for the source of Kur, the longest river of the Caucasus, travels to the Allahu-Akbar mountain range. After several attempts, the crew reaches the top of the mountain and finally manages to find the source of the river. With this, the 1,515 km journey to the world of Kur, which started in Türkiye and ended in Azerbaijan, in the Caspian Sea, begins. Throughout the film, the geography, surrounding cities, and historical-cultural, socio-economic processes going on in these areas are described in the film conducted from the source of the river to its mouth – in the territories of Türkiye, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Global warming, climate change, which have been the main topic of discussions in recent years, and the impact of this change on the lifestyle of the people residing in the river basin form the main plot line of the film. As the group gets acquainted with the life story of the local residents presented in the film, the audience gets to know Kur more closely. At the same time, throughout the film, information is given about the new projects planned by all three countries, and the impact of these projects on the region is interpreted by experts. “Kur – the mother of rivers” is a full-length popular-science film rich in images allowing to fully observe the natural beauty of the Kur River, which is considered the backbone vein of the Caucasus flowing through the territory of Türkiye, Georgia and Azerbaijan, for 1,515 km. This film is trying to prove that Kur is not just a river, but a cultural line connecting a large geography.
☕ Afternoon Tea & Coffee Break
Far From Home
Directed by Kristi Tethong
Far From Home traces a dual struggle against erasure: of the Tibetan nation, and of a father’s memory as Alzheimer’s steadily advances. Against a backdrop of occupation, displacement, and exile, an unexpected and hopeful love story unfolds across generations, in a delicate dance between past and present, tragedy and resilience. As time runs out, Far From Home asks whether remembering itself is an act of resistance. Shot over the course of a decade, at this film’s heart is a never-before-seen personal archive weaving a family's story with a precarious chapter of Tibetan history. TC Tethong, once-deputy to His Holiness the Dalai Lama after his 1959 escape over the Himalayas into India, invited this filmmaker—his daughter-in-law—to record his story for the next generation. A treasure trove of 16mm film and photographs of a fledgling refugee settlement built in a South Indian jungle, with his unlikely Canadian wife, Judy, reveals many hardships and preserves a thread of Tibetan oral history that would otherwise vanish with its aging protagonists: TC’s generation is the last to remember a free Tibet, and they carried it into exile. This film journeys into Chinese-occupied Tibet (shot while under daily surveillance by a special branch of state police) and takes the viewer on a family road trip to the old refugee settlement in India where private memory and collective history seamlessly converge in a story of survival. Reflecting on the brave first generation of Tibetan refugees in a private interview, the aging Dalai Lama observes, “Now most of them have disappeared. Gone.” A deeply moving family saga, Far From Home captures the universal longing of a diaspora for a home just out of reach. In the context of China’s ongoing erasure of Tibetan identity—through policies including colonial boarding schools— TC’s story is a quiet act of resistance and a vital reminder of what is still at stake. As time erodes memory, will the fight for Tibet also fade?
Important Notice: Screening dates, time slots, and venue halls are tentative and subject to change without prior notice due to operational exigencies.