Upcoming Events

A Co-presentation of AFI’s Latin American Film Festival and DCEFF

Nicaragua is one of the top five exporters of beef to the United States, whose profits in the industry have grown by over 400 percent in the last decade — but at great cost to the Rama Indigenous people and the Kriol Afro-descendent population, whose protected land in the rainforests is increasingly encroached upon and stolen by cattle ranchers seeking new land for their herds. An alliance between the two communities has led to the creation of Forest Ranger squads searching the area for signs of illegal encroachment. PATROL follows one of these squads as they patrol the region, aided by an American conservationist, encountering increasingly worrying levels of deforestation and signs that larger cattle-owning businesses are fast approaching.

Co-presented by AFI’s Latin American Film Festival and DCEFF

In the heart of the Andean Altiplano, eight-year-old Feliciano tends to a herd of alpacas alongside his trusty dog Rambo and his favorite alpaca Ronaldo, named after the superstar soccer player. When not roaming the countryside, Feliciano stays glued to his radio, listening to Peru fight its way through the World Cup qualifiers. But his idyllic life is threatened by a mining company eyeing his family’s land. When Ronaldo goes missing, Feliciano springs into action to get his prized pet back, while the villagers will have to band together to save their sacred land.

Includes a post-screening reception sponsored by the Embassy of Peru

Co-presented by AFI’s Latin American Film Festival and DCEFF

In the heart of the Andean Altiplano, eight-year-old Feliciano tends to a herd of alpacas alongside his trusty dog Rambo and his favorite alpaca Ronaldo, named after the superstar soccer player. When not roaming the countryside, Feliciano stays glued to his radio, listening to Peru fight its way through the World Cup qualifiers. But his idyllic life is threatened by a mining company eyeing his family’s land. When Ronaldo goes missing, Feliciano springs into action to get his prized pet back, while the villagers will have to band together to save their sacred land.

Co-presented by AFI’s Latin American Film Festival and DCEFF

Deep within the Amazon, the Yanomami people are facing an existential threat. Since a highway tore through their territory in the early 1970s, miners have encroached on their land, bringing violence and disease. Filmmakers Eryk Rocha (CINEMA NOVO) and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha go beyond ethnography, allowing the Yanomami people to reach out and offer a blistering environmental warning: they are the first line of defense, but they alone cannot stop the sky from falling.

Come get your skate on! Join Friends of Anacostia Park, the National Park Service, and our community partners for a day of music, recreation and kinship in DC’s most storied skating venue.

At 7pm, DCEFF will be screening a selection of films centered around the importance of an accessible outdoors for all, including:

• Reclaim Your Water: Natasha Smith
• Wood Hood
• Forward
• Malik
• 4DWN

Co-presented with the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center as part of their European Union Film Showcase

Snatching her crown as the reigning queen of sweater vests, Glenn Close is both hardened and endearing as a grandmother and seasoned Finnish artist in Charlie McDowell’s adaptation of Tove Jansson’s beloved Nordic novel of the same name. After her mother’s death, Sophia (played by the scene-stealing Emily Matthews in her feature debut) and her father (Anders Danielsen Lie, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD) take refuge for the summer at her grandmother’s estate, nestled on the shores of a remote Finnish island. As her father withdraws further into his solitude and grief, Sophia and her grandmother spend precious time together exploring the island and growing closer.

Co-presented with the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center as part of their European Union Film Showcase

The latest documentary from Victor Kossavosky (GUNDA) is a meditative exploration of humanity’s destructive shaping of the natural world told through visually mesmerizing footage of concrete in its many forms. Ukrainian apartments torn asunder amidst war, Turkish buildings leveled by an earthquake, colossal ancient ruins in Baalbek: these are a few of the imposing images Kossavosky and cinematographer Ben Bernhard capture and present, bolstered by Evgueni Galperine’s captivating score. The destruction and devastation are counterbalanced with remarkable appreciation for the beauty of the earth; indeed, the hypnotizing slow-motion footage of flowing stones and craggy rocks is a sight to behold.

March 20-29, 2025, the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) returns to venues throughout the DC Metro Area. Stay tuned for exciting announcements early in 2025. Submissions are now open. Learn more via the Festival’s FilmFreeway page.