5:30-8:30pm
$10 per event

Join the Academy of Natural Sciences for its third annual Confluence Film Festival — a month-long environmental film series held each April in celebration of Earth Month, with screenings every Thursday evening. Presented in partnership with BlackStar Projects, cinéSPEAK, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, Confluence 2026 showcases films that speak to this year's theme, “Seeding the Future.”

With feature-length films, shorts and documentaries appropriate for adults, the festival is both a call to action and a loving reminder that we don’t have to simply react to the climate crisis; we can actively shape a more just and sustainable future. Rooted in tradition, wonder and possibility, Confluence invites audiences to imagine what’s next. Experience this powerful film program, hear from filmmakers, community organizations and advocates, and learn how you can support and imagine climate resilience for the next seven generations.

Tickets go on sale March 5th.

Thursday, April 2

Opening Night, 5:00–8:30 p.m.
Programmed by cinéSPEAK

5–6:30 p.m. Opening Night Party

Join us for a joyous Opening Night Party in Dino Hall!

Enjoy the moving sounds of vibraphonist Hudson River, savor a special Indigenous Brazilian cuisine tasting curated by Mila Romero and enjoy light refreshments and a cash bar to toast our 2026 festival.

Connect with local advocacy organizations, meet fellow guests, and kick off the celebration in a warm, lively atmosphere. We can’t wait to welcome you!

6:30–8:30 p.m. Film Program: Screening followed by Q&A

A short film and a Pennsylvania Film Premiere feature documentary.

Botany of Nations, (2026, 10 min), a short documentary by dir. Cass Gardiner

Botany of Nations reframes the plants collected on the Lewis and Clark expedition to reveal a hidden history of the USA rooted in Indigenous stewardship, native food sovereignty, and a radical rethinking of botany and nationhood.

MUNDURUKUYÜ – The Forest Of The Fish Women, (2025, 75 min) a documentary feature film by dirs. Aldira Akay, Beka Munduruku and Rilcélia Akay,

Q & A with Botany of Nations director, Cass Gardinier moderated by Gabriela Watson-Burkett (Inti Media).

Thursday, April 9

5:30–8:30 p.m.
Programmed by PAAFF (the Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation)

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Pre-screening gathering with organizational partners In Dino Hall that will include food, music, and advocacy organizations
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Film Program: Screening followed by Q & A

Conference of the Moths, (2024, 8 min), a short animation directed and animated by Samhita Sunya

The film is a 2-D paper cut-out stop-motion silhouette-animation film that is both a gentle parody and an homage to the 12th-century Persian epic poem THE CONFERENCE OF THE THE BIRDS. Drawing out classical Indo-Persian motifs of light and darkness, of the moth and the flame, the original epic’s Wise Hoopoe returns to once again impart lessons on love, care, and connection for our current day and age.

Nocturnes, (2024, 83 min), a documentary feature film by director Anupama Srinivasan

In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe. Together, they are on an expedition to decode these nocturnal creatures in a remote ecological “hot spot” on the border of India and Bhutan. The result is a deeply immersive film that transports audiences to a rarely seen place and urges us all to look more closely at the hidden interconnections of the natural world.

Q&A with Samhita Sunya, director of Conference of the Moths and Academy Entomologist Greg Cowper, moderated by Arzhang Zafar, PAAFF’s Festival & Programming Director

Thursday, April 16

5:30–8:30 p.m.
Programmed by BlackStar Projects

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Pre-screening gathering with organizational partners In Dino Hall that will include food, music, and advocacy organizations
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Film Program: Screening followed by Q & A

Seeds, (2025, 123 min), a documentary feature film by dir. Brittany Shyne

Seeds is a portrait of centennial farmers in the American South. Using lyrical black-and-white imagery, this meditative film examines the decline of generational Black farmers and the significance of owning land.

Q & A: details TBD

Thursday, April 23

5:30–8:30 p.m.
Programmed by PHLAFF (the Philadelphia Latino Arts and Film Festival)

5:30–6:30 p.m. Pre-screening gathering with organizational partners In Dino Hall, including food, music and advocacy organizations
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Film Program: Screening followed by Q & A

Hasta la Raíz, (2024, 15 min), a short historic fiction film by dir. Nuria Schettino González

In 1856, at a Mexican rancho in Los Angeles, a Tongva woman fights for her land and daughter when the ranchero's wife leaves to defend her own land grant.

El Tren y la Península, (2023, 88 min), a documentary feature by dirs. Sky Richards and Andreas Kruger Foncerrada

The Train and the Peninsula is an intimate portrait of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as the controversial railroad megaproject known as the "Maya Train" is being built. A cinematic journey along the projected route of the train takes us on an immersive and epic journey across the peninsula. Through the fascinating stories and reflections of its inhabitants, the documentary exposes the environmental and social consequences of the development model imposed in the region. The directors weave together a collective narrative through the incisive and transparent testimonies of the peninsula's inhabitants and reveal a human landscape full of vitality and Mayan wisdom that exposes the clash between different ways of imagining progress.