SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER
SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER
Saturday 21st November, 8pm
Phenomena (86 min)
Directed by Josef Gatti | Australia | 2026 | 1h 26m
“A psychedelic odyssey into the fabric of the universe.”
Josef Gatti’s Phenomena is a psychedelic odyssey into the fabric of the universe, guided by the filmmaker and his immersive practical experiments that blur the lines between art and science to reveal nature’s inner workings.
Captured entirely in camera with no visual effects or artifice, the unfolding awe-inspiring hyper-real imagery is elevated by music from legendary Nils Frahm and an ethereal electronic original score by Rival Consoles, transforming curious observation into a hypnotic audio-visual adventure spanning from the subatomic to cosmological scales.
Tracing the forces and elements shaping the natural world, Phenomena is a kinetic sensory experience, exploring the wonders of the universe and our connection to it.
Where? The Ultimate Picture Palace, Jeune St, Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1BN
SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER
SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER
Sunday 22nd November, 1pm
Daughters of the Forest (95 min)
Directed by Otilia Portillo Padua | Mexico | 2026 | 1h 35m
“A story of entanglements: between humans and mushrooms; the visible and the invisible; generational knowledge and modern science.”
Science fiction meets ancient practices deep in Mexico's mushroom-rich forests, where two female mycologists from the country's indigenous peoples seek to unite past and present across life forms.
Eliseete and Julieta are trained mycologists – experts in fungi – and both find themselves with one foot in modern science and the other in the mindsets of their families and predecessors, which are deeply rooted in the indigenous peoples’ ways of viewing nature and themselves. We are in Mexico, where the deep forests are rich in fungi, and where a female community of mushroom gatherers invites us to reconsider our own relationship with ecosystems and other life forms.
Otilia Portillo’s deeply atmospheric and original film is a story of the intertwining of humans and mushrooms, the visible and the invisible, ancient knowledge and modern methods. With elements of both sci-fi and sensual immersion in the wonders of nature, it is an experience of the rarest and finest kind. A story of ecological coexistence, but also a report from a world threatened by deforestation and human arrogance – everything that Eliseete and Julieta’s work is an alternative to.
Where? Cinema, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, OX2 6GG
Sunday 22nd November, 3pm
OxDocs Co-Lab + talk with Prof Richard White & filmmakers Adam Gutch & Chu-Li Shewring
Collaborators: Chu-Li Shewring, Adam Gutch, & Prof Richard White | UK | 2026
The OxDocs Co-Lab is the festival’s engine house for developing and producing new collaborative research-embedded short films.
Join us for the very first screening of a new film made collaboratively by Richard White, Professor of Genetics at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, and filmmakers/ sound designers Chu-Li Shewring and Adam Gutch, inspired by the concepts of ‘noise’ and ‘signal’ in both science and everyday life, searching for patterns and meaning in the midst of messy data. We will dig into the shared discovery and production process, asking how we can think differently about research, public engagement, and film production.
Facilitated by Jamie Allan.
The OxDocs Co-Lab is kindly supported by The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research & Science Together.
Where? Cinema, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, OX2 6GG
Conscious (80 min) + talk with Prof Anil Seth & director Suki Chan
Sunday 22nd November, 6.30pm
Directed by Suki Chan | UK | 2026 | 1h 20m
“A beautiful and haunting exploration of what happens when consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate.”
Recently longlisted for the BIFA Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary award and the Raindance Maverick Award, Conscious is a beautiful and haunting exploration of what happens when consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate.
The film narrates the stories of Wendy Mitchell, Pegeen O’Sullivan, and Maureen Winfield who navigate dementia in transformative ways. Mirroring their journeys is the work of neuroscientist Anil Seth who has dedicated his career to studying consciousness, and finds his professional and personal life intersect as science becomes personal. With striking visuals and a rich, textured soundscape, Conscious invites audiences inside these altered landscapes of awareness, asking: what remains of us when our internal landscape fragments?
Prof Anil Seth, Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, will join us for a discussion about consciousness, hallucination and dementia, alongside the film’s director, Suki Chan.
Facilitated by Prof Richard White.
Where? Cinema, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, OX2 6GG