The Story of the Panorama – A Journey Through Living Worlds.The 14th Athens International Digital Film Festival (AIDFF) returns dynamically this year, hosting in parallel the 12th International Panorama of Ecological and Scientific Films—an entire program dedicated to environmental awareness, cultural diversity, and scientific exploration. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience a series of exceptional documentaries that illuminate different facets of human experience and our relationship with the world.

Every year, when the curtain rises on the Athens International Digital Film Festival, the city seems to pause its hurried rhythm for a moment. This year, however, as the festival meets the 12th International Panorama of Ecological and Scientific Films, Athens transforms into a global map where people, species, and cultures intersect under the same light.

As if an invisible lens were turned toward the Earth’s most intimate stories, the first image that emerges is that of Babalawo Awè, the healer who lives on the border between Nigeria and Benin. Every Sunday, in his small, humble room, he opens the path of the divinatory system FÂ, receiving those who carry fears, illnesses, or simply the need to understand their future. In the stillness of his workspace, their lives unfold like oracles; he listens, guides, heals. Cyrill Noyalet’s camera stands quietly by his side, as if holding its breath before the human longing for meaning.

And suddenly, the scene shifts. From Africa, we find ourselves in Oaxaca, Mexico—where five siblings and two cousins run barefoot on the earth, climb trees, and invent their own small rituals of freedom. Thea Chung follows their days as they flow like a game and a confession. In these summers, nature becomes refuge, companion, and memory.

From the children’s carefree world, we move to Professor Luca Rossi, who dedicates the final years of his academic life to wolves. In the Italian mountains he tries to approach them, understand their gaze, and listen to their logic. But the more he learns, the more he realizes that the real hunt is the clash between people—those who fiercely defend wolves and those who fear them, almost resentfully. The professor confronts his own heart: can science remain untouched by emotion?

While Luca wrestles with these questions, another young heroine, Luna, looks at the world from her own fragile vantage point. The documentary Facing The Unknown follows her journey through a world where water, energy, and infrastructure seem more vulnerable than ever. Through experts and artistic reflections, Luna learns that resilience is not just a technical term—it is a way of living, the courage to imagine a future that does not frighten you.

From there, the narrative leads us to a gentler yet profoundly moving landscape: Xuejian in Taiwan, where park ranger An-Liang watches the sunrise each day. For three generations, his family has protected the mountains and forests as a sacred inheritance. With his son by his side, he walks the paths once taken by his father, feeling that love for the land is an unwritten yet deeply-rooted command. Sunrise Xuejian becomes a hymn to the coexistence of humans and nature—a reminder that whoever respects the earth, respects themselves.

As we travel in thought between mountains and oceans, the concept of symbiosis becomes the heartbeat of these stories. The documentary Symbiosis invites us to observe a world that evolves slowly, free from the anxious tempo of human life. A world where kelp species have developed sophisticated transport mechanisms over 32 million years, while in our world a wastewater plant in North Vancouver has accumulated a decade of delays. Nature knows balance; we keep forgetting it.

In Greece, this forgetting becomes even more evident in Mother Company, where a children’s choir wanders through an abandoned power plant in Northern Greece. The children become the voices of generations of workers, speaking of the environment, public health, loss, and the hope for a “Green Future” that feels more like a promise than a reality.

And yet, somewhere else, hope finds wings. In Big Wings, a small rural Greek community unites to protect the endangered Dalmatian Pelican. People try to save the bird—and the bird, like a reflection, may end up saving them. A model of ecotourism emerges, one that could transform not only a species but an entire community.

Then, the story closes as it began: with wolves. This time in Attica, where they return after 60 years of absence. Mount Parnitha, wounded yet alive, receives them. People, divided, struggle to understand the meaning of this return. Fear? Hope? A warning? The film reveals a mirror—not for the wolves, but for us.

Thus, this year’s Panorama is woven from stories of people searching for tomorrow, children dreaming, animals returning, and ecosystems reminding us that everything in nature is connected. And perhaps that is the great oracle of the festival:

that life, wherever it resides on this planet, breathes with the same rhythm—when we allow it to.

Supported by:

Hellenic Film Center, Greek Center of Audiovisual Media & Creation (E.K.K.O.ME.D.)

Organized by:

Quinta Organization
Tickets Tickets Culture Company / BlackBox Theater Cinema

Athens International Digital Film Festival
www.aidff.com