‘Friends of Film: Our Rivers, Our Stories’ Heritage First Goa’s Film Festival Returns to Panaji on 27th September

‘Friends of Film: Our Rivers, Our Stories’ Heritage First Goa’s Film Festival Returns to Panaji on 27th September

~ International Day of the Rivers is celebrated on 27th September~

Goa, September 2026: Heritage First Goa (HFG), in association with Heritage Network, Tea Trunk, and Aani Ek, will host ‘Friends of Film: Our Rivers, Our Stories’ on Sunday, 27th September 2026, at Auditorium 1, ESG, Panaji, from 12 PM to 8 PM.

The daylong festival brings together short films and documentaries exploring Goa’s rivers, communities, and everyday stories, alongside conversations with the filmmakers behind them on the occasion of International Day of the Rivers being celebrated on the same day.

Goa is home to 11 major rivers and several hundred freshwater springs, tributaries, and minor water bodies. Its estuaries and mangrove ecosystems serve as breeding grounds for fish and other marine organisms, sustaining both the livelihoods of local communities and the state’s renowned cuisine, enjoyed by lakhs of visitors each year.

In light of the current state of the river known variously as the Mhadei, Mahadei, Mahadayi, or Mandovi, including concerns over pollution, diversion, increased salinity, marine life depletion, siltation, and pressure from transportation, the festival’s first segment, “Our Rivers,” presents a curated selection of films by Goa-based filmmakers centred on the river.

The second segment, “Our Stories,” features handpicked films of fiction rooted in real-life situations, including the award-winning Ancessao, which will be followed by a conversation with the filmmaker and the film’s main protagonists. Together, the two segments aim to explore the Goa of everyday life and lived experience.

The event is structured across two segments, “Our Rivers,” and will begin with the film by Capt. Nitin Dhond, and “Our Stories,” that will begin with the film by Prashanti Talpankar, interspersed with filmmaker conversations and breaks..

Speaking about the festival, Heta Pandit, Director, HFG said, “Our rivers have always been the quiet storytellers of Goa — carrying with them the memory of trade, migration, and everyday life. ‘Friends of Film’ gives these stories a screen and a voice, reminding us that heritage is not just what we preserve in stone, but what we continue to tell through the people and landscapes around us.”

Registration details are available at www.heritagefirstgoa.com.

SCHEDULE — FRIENDS OF FILM: OUR RIVERS, OUR STORIES

Sunday, 27 Sep ’26  |  Auditorium 1, ESG Panaji Goa  |  12 PM – 8 PM