The Night Visitors (dir Michael Gitlin, 2023)

A movie about moths; film and video artist Michael Gitlin emphasises their surreal beauty as well as their ecological relevance. He’s interested in moths as organisms, with fascinating life histories, staggering biodiversity, and a functional importance as indicators of climate change and habitat degradation; but he also sees moths as aesthetic beings and as carriers of meaning.

Screens with Sleepless Birds (dir Tom Claudon and Dana Melaver, Germany, 2021: 45 min), a film that tracks the rise of artificially-lit, industrial greenhouses in the French province of Brittany. The film shows the environmental impact of grow lights on biodiversity, as well as on our own rhythms and perception of time. In examining the case of agricultural light pollution, the film raises questions about the unintended consequences of human attempts to overpower nature and control the elements.

Also showing: The Bee Keeper’s Journey (The Climate Tribe, 2024: 6 min), a short about beekeeper and ecologist Aisha Hareb Al Dhaheri, whose passion for beekeeping raises awareness about the local ecosystem in the UAE.

This programme is part of the Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival, a collaboration between NYUAD and Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi