Visual Encounters Film Fest 2026

What happens when anthropology moves beyond the written page and into images, sounds and encounters?

Visual Encounters returns for its 4th edition, presenting ethnographic short films created by filmmakers from the University of Amsterdam's MA in Visual Anthropology. On Saturday, Oct 31, eight films take you through different worlds, relationships and ways of seeing, from observational documentary to collaborative and experimental filmmaking. At the heart of the festival is the idea that filmmaking can become an encounter: between filmmaker and participant, image and experience, audience and world.

Screenings take place at Ventilator Cinema, OT301 (Overtoom 301, Amsterdam), in thematic blocks followed by Q&As with the filmmakers.

"What Grows From the Land" | 12:30 – 13:45

80% Water, dir. Hannan van Rooij (28 min)

Trossets Xicotets, dir. Carme Ferrando Soriano (37 min)

Q&A 13:35 – 13:45 with Hannan and Carme

 "Sampling the Past" | 14:00 – 16:00

Telling Stories, dir. Rik Dijkman (30 min)

Cracks in the Archive, dir. Maya Rottger (35 min)

Retromania, dir. Manon Harvey (37 min)

Q&A 15:45 – 16:00 with Rik, Maya and Manon

 "Ways Ahead" | 16:10 – 18:10

'Didube' Between Journeys, dir. Roos Neuteboom (28 min)

See You Down the Road, dir. Baylor Watts (32 min)

A Víz az Úr (The River Rises), dir. Zsuzsanna Námlák (43 min)

Q&A 17:55 – 18:10 with Roos, Baylor and Zsuzsanna

The festival continues on Sunday, Nov 1.