India International Centre (IIC) to host its annual festival from Oct 29-November 03

New Delhi: The India International Centre (IIC) will host its annual festival from 29 October, 2026 to 03 November, 2026. The theme for this year is Prakriti: Ecology and Existence, exploring how ideas, artistic expression and lived experience can come together to deepen our understanding of prakriti (nature) and our place within it.

According to IIC functionaries, “The theme reflects global concerns of the time, as climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and pressures on traditional livelihoods affect communities worldwide, offering space to reexamine our relationship with nature and the choices that shape our common future.”

The festival will commence with the exhibition ‘Prakriti: Harmonising Inner and Outer Worlds in South Asian Texts and Traditions’ and the keynote address, ‘Rukkha, Rakkha, Yakkha: Foundational Evidence for Tree Worship in Indian Art’, by distinguished art historian Naman P. Ahuja. It will be formally inaugurated on 30 October 2026 by President, IIC, Shyam Saran.


This year’s ‘Stories on Screen’, curated with support from the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and the Film Heritage Foundation, will feature 13 critically acclaimed films from Hindi and regional Indian cinema, as well as Hollywood. These include films on ecological themes, such as the science fiction Jurassic Park (1993) and the animation The Red Turtle (2016); films recently restored in 4K resolution, Umrao Jaan (1981) and In Which Annie Gives it to Those Ones (1989); and classics like The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Ghatashraddha (1977), Angoor (1982) and Jaane bhi do Yaaro (1983), among others, IIC said in a statement.