2 PM, The Blue Hall, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center

Ma Poule (My Girl) directed by Caroline Ophelie (France) (18 min)

• Ever since the rooster died, Jasper’s only surviving hen has been plagued by depression. Forced to come down from the mountain where he lives far from everything, the septuagenarian sets out in search of companionship for his beloved gallinaceous friend.

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Kes directed by Ken Loach (UK) (110 min)

• Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes.

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5 PM, The Blue Hall, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center

KAWAUSO directed by Akihito Izuhara (Japan) (15 min)

• A girl is walking when a Japanese river otter catches up with her. The two try to communicate while the world threatens to sink under the weight of its consumer goods.

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REEF Festival Short: Tree of Hell directed by Raed Zeno (Lebanon) (24 min) 

• Raed discovers by chance that the beautiful tree growing in front of his house is one of the invasive trees that threatens the environmental diversity in the Lebanese forest. He begins the journey of exploring this tree with his friend Hadi and Dr. Muhammad, who specializes in invasive plants, at a time when the country is exposed to another type of invasion represented by Israeli attacks on humans and their environment. 

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The Red Turtle directed by Michaela Dudoka De Wita (Japan/France) (80 min)

• Turbulent waves, a storm and a capsized boat. Within one moment, a man is stranded alone on a desert island. He is not able to appreciate the golden sand, the limitless ocean or wild nature. Instead, he does everything he can to escape from it at the first opportunity. His perspective, however, changes when he meets a red turtle. Suspended between reality and a dream, this poetic story is an invitation to meditation on beauty, nature and the next stages of human life. An Oscar nominee and an award-winner from Cannes, this animation is the only production of legendary Studio Ghibli which was made outside Japan.

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7:30 PM, The Blue Hall, New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center

Climate Tribe Short: The Beekeeper’s Journey (6 min)

• We follow beekeeper and ecologist, Aisha Hareb Al Dhaheri, whose passion for beekeeping raises awareness about the local ecosystem in the United Arab Emirates.

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The Night Visitors directed by Michael Gitlin (USA) (72 min)

• The Night Visitors is a movie about moths. In large and small fragments, looking both inward and out, through a critical lens that is by turns social and personal, the film closely examines these underknown creatures. While The Night Visitors is interested in moths as organisms, with fascinating life histories, staggering biodiversity, and a functional importance as indicators of climate change and habitat degradation, its engagement with them is not primarily entomological. Instead, the film looks at moths as aesthetic beings and as carriers of meaning, aiming for a deep encounter with the beauty and incommensurability of the profoundly other.

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Sleepless Birds directed by Tom Claudon and Dana Melaver (Germany) (45 min)

• How does a tomato change our sense of time? At the border between science-fiction and documentary, Sleepless Birds tracks the rise of artificially-lit, industrial greenhouses in the French region of Bretagne. The film presents the environmental impact of grow lights on biodiversity, as well as on our rhythm and perception of time. In examining the case of agricultural light pollution, the film also raises questions about the unintended consequences of human attempts to overpower nature and control the elements.