Best of the fest (day 2/3)
NEW ECOLOGICAL SHORT FILMS
Day Two of our 2026 Best of the Fest series features a program of new ecological short films from around the living world, including the winners of our curation community’s Best Short Film and Best Conservation Film awards.
Screening in conjunction with our free, for-credit Multnomah Clemente Course.
Saturday, June 6, 2026 | 12:00 p.m. | City Lights Cinemas in Florence, OR
Saturday, June 13, 2026 | 7:00 p.m. | Columbian Theater in Astoria, OR
Saturday, June 20 | 4:00 p.m. | Olympia Film Society in Olympia, WA
Click here to purchase tickets for Florence. (Coming Soon)
Click here to purchase tickets for Olympia. (Coming Soon)
Astoria tickets can only be purchased at the box office.
Information about individual films follows.
AKABABURU: EXPRESSION OF ASTONISHMENT
Directed by Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí
2025 | Colombia | 14 minutes
Emberá Chamí and Spanish with English subtitles
Official Selection | Indigenous Voices | West Coast Premiere
Kari, an indigenous girl who is afraid to laugh, meets Kera, who shares with her the myth of Kiraparamia, a woman punished by the gods for laughing at her husband. Together, they discover that laughter actually set Kiraparamia free and restored her essential bond to nature. This is a rare opportunity to see an Indigenous made film that made history at the acclaimed Berlin Film Festival, filmed mostly in the Emberá Chami language.
LIKE FRIEND, LIKE DEER
Directed by Malek Eghbali
2025 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 13 minutes
Winner, Best Short Film (Curation Community)
Official Selection | USA Premiere
Inspired by the story of a wildlife ranger who killed an illegal hunter during a confrontation, this intricately hand-painted film—the winner of our curation community’s 2026 Best Short Film Award—explores the deep connection between humans, animals, and the environment we all share.
REINDALEN
Directed by Morgan Elizabeth Heim
2024 | Norway | 14 minutes
English with English captions
Winer, Best Conservation Film Award
Official Selection | West Coast Premiere
In the fastest-warming place on Earth, two friends, Emma and Oline, and their canine sidekick, Thando, uncover how the world's smallest and fattest reindeer are thriving because of rising temperatures. But are they seeing a positive side-effect of climate change in the Arctic, or witnessing the end of innocence for Svalbard reindeer? REINDALEN is the winner of our 2026 Best Conservation Film Award (Curation Community).
ROOST 2020 PDX
Directed by Irene Tejaratchi Hess
2025 | USA | 19 minutes
English with English captions
Official Selection | West Coast Premiere
What begins as a traditional natural history documentary about Portland’s crow roost becomes a chronicle of a city navigating a year of immense turmoil and unexpected beauty.
ROOST 2020 PDX weaves together seemingly disparate threads: thousands of crows gathering to roost, empty pandemic streets, tear gas clouding protests for racial justice, federal agents occupying a city, and wildfires.
Through it all, nature offers refuge, as well as a vivid illustration and reflection on the power of numbers.
VOX HUMANA
Directed by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan
2024 | The Republic of the Philippines | 22 minutes
Tagalog with English subtitles
Official Selection | Indigenous Voices | Regional Premiere
In the aftermath of multiple natural disasters, the police find a man in the woods. A zoologist, a sound recorder, and a news team grapple with the fact that he may be the cause of the devastation—or that he holds the key to the truth.
WITNESS: AN ORGANIMA FILM
Directed by Nik Arthur
2025 | Canada | 5 minutes
Official Selection
Meticulously handcrafted, WITNESS: AN ORGANIMA FILM captures the sentience in small life-forms: ancient beings on stone, an intelligent water droplet, and spirits of sunlight. Utilizing novel animation approaches wherein natural materials guide their own stories, elemental archives invite viewers to question the nature of human purpose and renew their child-like vision.