ecocinema – droog

Blooming | Sprouts Film Festival 2026

Blooming by Marina Russo Villani & Victor Missud

out of competition | 2024 | France/Benin | 45’

Blooming traces the journey of the water hyacinth, once introduced to Ganvié, Benin, as an ornamental feature for hotels and luxury homes, but now a suffocating presence. Following the life cycle of this invasive species – from beauty to curse to resource – the film unfolds within a waterlogged landscape steeped in local legend and the histories of the slave trade. Lyrical in tone, Blooming meditates on transformation, resilience, and the uneasy coexistence of nature and human intervention.

June 5 | 19:00 | Droog | + aftertalk with Bogna Bochińska

Bogna Bochińska is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. Her research interests include elemental media, blue humanities, environmental memory, folklore, and identity. She is part of the Fuck Healing (?) collective, which operates across multidisciplinary theories and artistic practices of healing. In her PhD project, she conceptualizes the European river Oder as a site for memory-making in the context of environmental personhood and West Polish identity. In her work, she engages with creative research practice in the form of auto-theoretical storytelling.

For five editions now, the team behind Sprouts has developed a recurring platform for fictional ecocinema and socially critical debut films. We have steadily grown into an interdisciplinary film festival, now present across six venues in three of Amsterdam’s city districts: Studio/K, Kriterion, De Uitkijk, Droog, MidWest, and QRU.

While a five-year anniversary calls for celebration, each day we are reminded of why we felt the need for a festival like Sprouts in the first place. Autocrats, tech bros, and far-right factions continue to wreak havoc on our planet, disrupting ecosystems and undermining international law and human dignity. This is why we cherish the brave filmmakers of our 2026 edition so deeply: they defy systems to share bold, uncompromising visions. We also support the shaping of a new generation of green storytellers by hosting our very first Sprouts Eco Shorts Pitch and Industry Day.

From 1 – 7 June, let us focus on bringing people together and inspiring one another to resist. Whether by visiting our free Eco Expo, joining our community dinners, attending outdoor screenings, supporting our fundraiser for Sudan, or simply watching a film together. For more information on the festival and our full programme, visit https://sproutsfilmfestival.com/ and follow us on Instagram @sproutsfilmfestival.

Live AV Show | Sprouts Film Festival 2026

For five editions now, the team behind Sprouts has developed a recurring platform for fictional ecocinema and socially critical debut films. We have steadily grown into an interdisciplinary film festival, now present across six venues in three of Amsterdam’s city districts: Studio/K, Kriterion, De Uitkijk, Droog, MidWest and QRU.

While a five-year anniversary calls for celebration, each day we are reminded of why we felt the need for a festival like Sprouts in the first place. Autocrats, tech bros and far-right factions continue to wreak havoc on our planet, disrupting ecosystems and undermining international law and human dignity. This is why we cherish the brave filmmakers of our 2026 edition so deeply: they defy systems to share bold, uncompromising visions. We also support the shaping of a new generation of green storytellers by hosting our very first Sprouts Eco Shorts Pitch and Industry Day.

LIVE AUDIOVISUAL SHOW: Tharim Cornelisse & Oceanic

As both a DJ and a producer Oceanic creates immersive and shape-shifting environments in which boundaries dissolve. Like tides, the musical experiences Oceanic creates feel driven by forces bigger than the sum of their parts. Here he finds overlap with the work of visual artist Tharim Cornelisse. Cornelisse uses his own custom digital tools and techniques to create emotive abstract digital worlds within live performances where audio, light and visuals merge and enhance one another.

In their live audiovisual performance Choral Feeling, named after Oceanic his critically acclaimed debut album, Oceanic and Cornelisse found their first collaborative piece. A performance built around visceral human movement and connection between bodies where live visuals are mixed, manipulated and tell a narrative that finds connection with the live music being played.

https://www.instagram.com/tharimcornelisse/

https://www.instagram.com/oceanic.ocean/

More info about the festival: https://sproutsfilmfestival.com/

Eco Shorts: Waterworlds | Sprouts Film Festival 2026

Eco Shorts: Waterworlds

Water Girl by Sandra Desmazières

eco shorts competition | 2025 | France/Portugal/Netherlands | 15’

An elderly freediver reflects on her life and an unfulfilled longing, with the sea as a constant presence. A lyrical, hand-drawn and colourful animation exploring universal themes.

Beneath Which Rivers Flow by Ali Yahya

eco shorts competition | 2025 | Iraq | 16’

In the tranquil marshlands of southern Iraq, young Ibrahim lovingly tends to his buffalo, but disruption looms on the horizon.

Last Tropics by Thanasis Trouboukis

eco shorts competition | Dutch premiere | 2025 | Greece | 20’

As time begins to abandon their coastal village, three young protagonists turn to illegal dynamite fishing in an attempt to escape their precarious situation.

Acid City by Jack Wedge & Will Freudenheim

eco shorts competition | 2026 | USA | 12’

A self-sufficient island city rises from a vast acidic ocean beneath apocalyptic red skies. In this travelogue from the future, Acid City’s eclectic residents take life as it comes.

Eco Shorts: Waterworlds | June 3 | 19:00 | Droog | + aftertalk Milieudefensie