Sprouts Film Festival

In times of a glitching world, with weather extremes and inhumane conflicts intensifying, it can be tempting to avert your gaze. Instead, Sprouts wants to make the cinema a site for peaceful protest by showing newly released ecocinema and socially critical debut films. All selected features and shorts are fiction, because it is their belief that through the power of imagination, we can alter our behavior for the better and rethink our relationship with the more-than-human world. Sprouts is here to make you wonder, to inform, to spark resistance and to nurture fresh talent.

With 18 Dutch premieres and films from 28 different countries Sprouts helps to diversify the film landscape. New this year is their cultural side program at MACA | Moving Arts Centre Amsterdam. Both the Live AV Show and free Eco Expo, featuring (new) works by eight upcoming artists, explore the interconnectedness of environmental and social justice through the universal language of art and music. Like Sprouts, the festival is slowly growing and building a caring community. They eagerly await your participation in the 3rd edition. Find a selection from the program here:

Dilli Dark (IN, 2023)
By Dibakar Das Roy
Sweet, likeable Michael Okeke is fed up with the ceaseless racism he must endure as a Nigerian MBA student and reluctant cocaine dealer living in New Delhi. Das Roy’s whirlwind debut eclectically alternates between slapstick, satire and some layered, meaningful character development. He understands the power of comedy, resulting in a witty, razor-sharp social critique that pops off the screen.

Disco Boy (FR, IT, BE, PL 2023)
By Giacomo Abbruzzese
After joining the French Foreign Legion young Belarusian Aleksei departs for the Niger Delta to protect oil companies’ investments against revolutionary activist Jomo. Awarded at the Berlinale for its visual impact, Abbruzzese’s haunting ode to Claire Denis’ Beau Travail poetically contrasts a brutalised Nigerian landscape with the Parisian club scene by means of a pulsating score and European cinema poster boy Franz Rogowski.

Mountains (US, 2023)
By Monica Sorelle
Sorelle’s tender debut looks at a Haitian immigrant family on the verge of losing touch with one another, and Miami’s Little Haiti, the place they call home. Gentrification is a problem all too familiar to cities like Miami and Amsterdam. While many people are in desperate need of a sense of belonging, housing shortages soar. Dreaming becomes the only option. 

Sister, What Grows Where Land Is Sick? | Den siste våren (NOR, 2022)
By Franciska Eliassen
Growing up in the absence of a future. The consequences of climate change are impacting young adults in different ways. While some channel their rage or anxiety and join Skolstrejk för klimatet, others slip away in a paralyzing state. Eliassen looks at the beautiful dynamics between two sisters differently affected in this ecofeminist fairytale told through vibrant shots of folklore. Presented in collaboration with Stichting Perceval. 

The Buriti Flower | Crowrã (BR, POR, 2023)
By Renée Nader Messora, João Salaviza
Pressing film about the Krahô people of Brazil, fighting for their existence and that of the Amazon, which was rightfully awarded at Cannes for the way it was made in close collaboration with its ensemble of non-actors. A lyrical blend of documentary and fiction, culminating in massive Indigenous demonstrations in Brasília. It fuses past and present, systemic expulsion and defiance. Presented in collaboration with Stop Ecocide NL.

The Great Endeavor (US, AUS, 2023)
By Liam Young
Humans will need to decolonize the atmosphere on a planetary scale in order to avert the worst of climate change. Fans of Dune will be drawn to Young’s awe-inspiring world building and sneak peek into the foreseeable future, accompanied by Lyra Pramuk’s sublime music. An imposing elevator pitch about what would be the most challenging engineering project ever undertaken. Will be playing on loop at MACA as part of the free Eco Expo.

The Secret Garden | الحديقة السريّة (LEB, 2023)
By Nour Ouayda
Botanical life reclaiming urban spaces is at the center of Ouayda’s poetic fairytale that makes visible what normally remains hidden. The Secret Garden is part of the program Eco Shorts RECONFIGURATIONS.

The Stag (TAI 2024)
By An Chu
Chu tenderly captures the little-known world of deer farming, where toxic masculinity comes at the expense of animal welfare. The Stag is part of the program Eco Shorts MENTAL STATE. 

May 7–12 in Studio/K, MACA and Kriterion. June 14–15 in Zone2Source. 
For the complete program, dates, times and tickets, take a look at 
www.sproutsfilmfestival.com