The Sand Castle (2024) weaves the themes of empathy and sustainability through its portrayal of a displaced family forced to survive together on an uninhabited island after a disaster. The film uses the family’s struggle to secure food, water, and shelter as a mirror for humanity’s fragile relationship with nature, exposing both our dependence on and neglect of the environment. As the characters confront scarcity and learn to share limited resources, they cultivate empathy—not only for one another’s emotional pain and fear but also for the nonhuman life around them, which becomes part of their fragile ecosystem. This growing interdependence underscores a moral awakening: survival depends not on domination, but on understanding, restraint, and care. In this way, The Sand Castle turns the act of endurance into a lesson in ecological compassion, inviting viewers to see empathy as the foundation of both human and environmental sustainability.

The event is a screening of the film “Los Bárbaros” [The Barbarians] (Spain/Peru, 2024), and a Q&A with film director Martin Guerra. The film is set during the Spanish crisis around 2010 and follows three young people living in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Madrid. Indie, contemplative, and with subtle humor, “Los Bárbaros” portrays the disillusionment of a generation with the Western promises of social welfare, while discussing issues of precarity and migration.

Join the GERMAN PROGRAM to see how visionary activist and politician PETRA KELLY reshaped German society forever by following this motto. Kelly’s understanding of POLITICS AS CHARITY, molded by growing up in GEORGIA in the 1960s, facilitated the rise of Germany’s GREEN PARTY, and her political legacy offers answers to this year’s festival “SUSTAINING EMPATHY IN A FRACTURED WORLD.”

It is an intimate portrait of childhood inside a Tokyo public school. Over the course of a year, 1st and 6th graders navigate daily routines and small dramas while learning discipline, empathy, and community, finding the balance between individualism and being respectful toward others.

The documentaries demonstrate how early immigrant communities built sustainable cultural practices — rooted in family, food, land, and mutual care —t hat continue to shape local identity today. By centering lived experiences and community archives, this event highlights a crucial dimension of sustainability: the preservation of cultural heritage and intergenerational knowledge (UN SDG 11.4).

Event Schedule
Opening remarks and introduction (12:00–12:15)
Screening: The Words of Wisdom from the Rainbow State (Director’s Cut) (12:20–1:20)
Break and informal discussion (1:20–1:50)
Screening: Songs of Love from Hawai‘i (1:50–2:55)
Director’s talk and Q&A: “What Making a Film on Korean Immigration History Taught Me” (3:00–3:55)
Closing remarks (3:55–4:00)

Total running time: approximately 4 hours

The film offers a candid and often humorous look at China’s contemporary dating scene, shaped by the long-term demographic effects of the one-child policy. Following three men navigating a highly competitive and uneven marriage market, the film explores how modern ideas of masculinity, self-presentation, and intimacy collide with deeply personal desires for connection. Through moments that are both absurd and deeply human, the documentary invites viewers to reflect on the pressures of performing identity in the search for love—and on the universal longing to be seen and understood.

Directed by Mira Nair, Mississippi Masala is a film about postcolonial displacement, nostalgia, and the urgent need for cross racial empathy.  Expelled from their home, Uganda, by President Idi Amin, an Indian family is forced to rebuild their life in Mississippi, USA. The parents struggle with their displacement and the yearning for home in Uganda. Meanwhile, their daughter, Mina, falls in love with Demetrius, a Black man. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring film scholar Dr. Koel Banerjee along with Dr. Ankita Rathour who runs a film collective in Atlanta.

Are you curious about how directors shape performances, scenes, and storytelling on set — even if you’ve never picked up a megaphone? This hands-on workshop is designed for beginners of all kinds: students, community members, aspiring filmmakers, or simply anyone with an interest in directing. No prior experience required.

In L’Océan vu du cœur (the festival theme of “empathy in a fractured world” is taken both literally and metaphorically. The film reflects on fractures in the ocean floor while also inviting viewers to understand the ocean “through the heart,” offering an empathetic lens on our relationship with the natural world. Placing sustainability at the center, the documentary examines efforts to protect biodiversity, human health, and the planet, highlighting the fragility of ecosystems and the vital importance of clean water in the face of mass production, industrial agriculture, and global transportation.