© E.M Ritts

Driftlines film festival

Wed 6 May - Sat 9 May

Alison Richard Building

Driftlines is a documentary film festival dedicated to stories of resilience, activism, and self-determination across ocean worlds. Bringing together filmmakers and communities from around the globe, the festival showcases lived relationships with the sea through works grounded in self-representation and narrative sovereignty. These films offer powerful counternarratives to mainstream media, challenging dominant systems of knowledge and power while centering the voices of those most intimately connected to ocean environments.

Hosted in Cambridge from May 5–9, 2026, Driftlines presents a dynamic programme of screenings, workshops, and director discussions. We invite you to join as we explore a wide range of themes, from food sovereignty and Indigenous governance to pollution and climate change. Our goal is to change global narratives around ocean justice, one film at a time.

Wednesday 6 May
17:00 – 19:00: Opening Night Film Te Puna Ora, The Source of Life

Thursday 7 May
12:00 – 15:00: Workshop with Te Puna Ora Director Virginie Tetoofa ‘Environmental Storytelling Against the Grain: Crafting nonlinear narratives through film’
17:00 – 19:00: New Boats

Saturday 9 May
9:30 – 10:00: Coffee & Conversation
10:00 – 12:00: The Lost Sea
12:00 – 13:00: Lunch
13:00 – 14:30: Shorts Program: Ocean Pollution and Self-Determination
15:00 – 17:00: The Seven Waves

Cost: FREE