The innsbruck nature film festival (inff) celebrates its 25th anniversary from 7 to 11 October 2026 under the motto «we are one». The programme opens on 7 October at 7 pm with Bee Wild, a film about bees and pollinators. More than 6,000 visitors attended in 2025, and the organisers are again aiming for sold-out cinemas.
Thirteen awards with a total prize value of more than €29,000 will be presented at a ceremony on 10 October. A retrospective of six films traces the festival’s development from the early Innsbruck Nature Film Days to its current international form. It opens with Patrick and the Whale, a Documentary Emmy nominee about an underwater filmmaker and a female sperm whale. Nanook of the North, screened at the second Innsbruck Nature Film Days in 2003, is included alongside Virunga, What Fish Want, Mautplatz and Unterwegs nach … Heimat. The festival has shown more than 1,000 films over 25 years.
To the West, in Zapata portrays the people of Cuba’s Zapata Peninsula and their connection to one of the Caribbean’s most important wetlands. In the Company of Wolves: An American Journey, narrated by Jeff Bridges, uses the wolf as an entry point into the history and identity of the United States. Swiss filmmaker Chris Schmid follows musk oxen through the Arctic in Muskox, which also records how climate change is altering their habitat. Daughters of the Forest accompanies two Indigenous mycologists in Mexico who bring traditional knowledge to modern science.
The Green Fiction section presents Rebuilding, starring Josh O’Connor, which explores the aftermath of a natural disaster and its effect on relationships and communities. Eleanor Mortimer directed How Deep Is Your Love, which follows marine biologists exploring deep-sea ecosystems. The Tale of Silyan by Tamara Kotevska, director of Honeyland, tells the story of a Macedonian farmer and an injured white stork and has recently received two Emmy nominations.
Many filmmakers will travel to Innsbruck to present their work in person. The inff Film Industry Market brings professionals from across the film industry together for masterclasses and pitching sessions, while Science Glimpses, organised with the University of Innsbruck, offer scientific perspectives on selected films.
Galleries across the city host exhibitions, and St. James’ Cathedral houses an immersive 360° installation. André Heller will discuss his personal relationship with nature in an on-stage conversation on Sunday 11 October at 4.30 pm at Metropol Kino. A children’s and family programme runs every afternoon from Thursday to Saturday, with some events in English.
A press conference on the 2026 programme takes place on 1 October at 10 am at the 360° Bar in the RathausGalerien Innsbruck. Executive director Elisabeth Stark and festival director Johannes Kostenzer will speak, joined by Peter Paul Mölk, chairman of Innsbruck Tourism.
