Museum Of Natural History Festival To Feature 44 Documentaries

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The American Museum of Natural History's annual Margaret Meade film festival will feature documentary films this year, museum officials announced Tuesday.

This year's film festival at the Upper West Side institution will run from Octo. 17 to Oct. 20, with 27 feature-length documentaries and 17 short documentaries. Films from 34 different countries were selected for this year's festival, museum officials said.

Some topics covered by documentaries in this year's film festival include: An exploration of the lives of athletes who played for Libya's women's soccer team which was forced to disband following the Arab Spring revolution, an inside look at Saudi Arabia's Women's Driving School which opened in 2018 and the struggle to contain a growing amount of trash in Rapa Nui brought by an increase in tourism on the island.

"Whatever you’d typically see on any standard 24-hour news cycle is not what this year’s Margaret Mead Film Festival stories are about. This year, the Mead celebrates all the ways that people around the world are breaking the narrative. It’s a recognition and rejection of the ways communities are portrayed as ‘other’ or ‘exotic’ on film," Bella Desai, director of Public Programs and Exhibition Education, said in a statement.

In addition to film screenings and discussions, the festival will include activities and exhibits such as a virtual reality experience at the museum's Starlight Café, panel discussions and other informative presentations and the Margaret Meade Filmmaker Awards.

Tickets for this year's festival go on sale Thursday, Sept. 5. More information about films being show during this year's Margaret Meade festival can be found on the museum's website.