Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival is returning to Abu Dhabi for its fifth edition, bringing three days of environmental documentaries, fiction, animation and short films to NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11 2026.

The ticketed film festival, screening the works of acclaimed filmmakers is built around this year’s theme, Mend – an Arabic word which translates to the careful restoring something of value. Therefore, the festival will explore what that means for the natural world, from rehabilitating habitats and recovering species to protecting water, restoring degraded land and passing environmental knowledge between generations.

Tickets for the 3-day-long film festival start at Dhs16 and can be purchased on Platinumlist, here.

Your ticket gives you access to several major film screenings, including the Gulf premiere of Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, a National Geographic Documentary Films production that first screened at the Venice International Film Festival.

Also on the programme is the Björk-narrated Fungi: Web of Life, the restored 4K version of Manthan, and a selection of recent films that premiered at the 2026 Berlinale and Sundance Film Festival.

The UAE programme will centre on the premiere of Conservation Diaries, a five-part documentary series produced by Connect with Nature, the youth environmental movement founded by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) with Emirates Nature–WWF.

Filmed across the UAE’s wadis, coastlines, mangrove forests and rural communities, the series follows scientists, volunteers and local custodians working on conservation projects around the country.

Filmmaker Sara Dosa will also be joining the festival for a masterclass, alongside screenings of two of her films: Fire of Love, her Academy Award-nominated 2022 documentary about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, and Time and Water, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2026.

The programme will also feature Chuuraa by Evgenia Arbugaeva, which had its world premiere at Berlinale Shorts 2026.

There will be plenty for younger audiences, too, with a family programme featuring environmental animation, as well as conversations exploring food systems, land, water and restoration.

Since launching in 2020, Al Sidr has welcomed more than 5,000 attendees and engaged 2,000 students from more than 20 schools across Abu Dhabi.

The festival is open to the public, with panel discussions, exhibitions and environmental activities taking place alongside the film screenings.

When: Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11, 2026
Where: Blue Hall, New York University Abu Dhabi
Price: From Dhs16, get tickets here.

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