Gestures of Refusal
71ST Flaherty Film Seminar
OCTOBER 8-11, 2026
PODS
NYC | SARATOGA SPRINGS | THAI FILM ARCHIVE
WARSAW | BUENOS AIRES | CIUDAD DE MÉXICO
LISBON
About Pods
We have partnered with global arts organizations to host local Seminar experiences. The Pods support our mission to decentralize the Seminar experience and expand access.
From October 8 - 11, people in Salaya, Saratoga Springs, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Lisbon, Warsaw, and New York City will gather daily to watch Seminar programs and participate in discussions with local participants.
Our partner venues will host groups of participants for three to four days of in-depth engagement with Seminar programming. The global Pod schedule includes six curated film screenings with post screening discussions. Each Pod will screen the same films presented at the Seminar in Vermont, fostering collective and dynamic Seminar discussions in locally favored languages. Facilitated by local curators, artists, organizers, and discussion leaders, these conversations will be accompanied by additional materials and prompts provided by The Flaherty.
Pods Include
Full access to Seminar programs and discussions at local Pod venue(s)
Six curated programs*
Daily in-person discussions on-site, led by local community members
In-person discussions from the Vermont in-person Seminar will not be live-streamed.
*Total programs vary by location.
Find your Pod!
Pod Partners
MA Media Studies program at The New School - NY, NY
Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College and Troy’s Picture Lock One microcinema - Saratoga Springs, NY
Thai Film Archive – Salaya
AMATOR Film and Education Association and Cinema U-jazdowski at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art - Warsaw
Museo del Cine “Pablo Ducrós Hicken” - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Pohualizcalli: Escuela de Cine Comunitario y Fotografía - Ciudad de México, México
The Fine Arts Faculty of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL) and The Laboratory of Cinema and Philosophy (CineLab) of IFILNOVA, NOVA FCSH)
The New School Flaherty Pod
NEW YORK, NEW YORK | USA
Hosted by the MA Media Studies program at The New School in New York City, the New School Flaherty Pod brings together students, faculty, filmmakers, artists, and members of the wider community for collective viewing and discussion of the 2026 Flaherty Seminar program, Gestures of Refusal.
The Media Studies Master's degree program at The New School has a long history of engagement with documentary and experimental media, combining critical inquiry with creative practice. The Pod extends this tradition through the Flaherty Seminar’s distinctive model of communal viewing, conversation, and exchange.
Attendance: The Pod is open to New School students, faculty, staff, alumni, and interested members of the public. Space is limited and advance registration is required.
To register and get more information, follow the button below:
Tang Museum/Upstate NEW YORK Pod
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK | USA
For the 2nd year, the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College and Troy’s Picture Lock One microcinema join forces to convene a Flaherty pod in New York’s Capital Region.
Attendance: Registration details will be announced shortly. All screenings free and open to the public, with a carpool available from Troy up to the Tang.
To register and get more information, follow the button below:
Thai Film Archive Pod
Salaya, Thailand
*Please note that the Thai Film Archive Pod will run from October 15 - 18
Thai Film Archive | Salaya, Thailand
Hosted by the Thai Film Archive, the Salaya Pod provides an unique opportunity for local audiences to engage with the Seminar through screenings, discussions, and facilitated conversations.
Screenings were subtitled in Thai, and discussions will be led by regional curators and scholars.
Attendance: The TFA Pod will run from October 15 - 18 and is open to the general public. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Registration details will be announced shortly.
WARSAW Pod
Warsaw, Poland
Photo by: Daniel Czarnocki
The AMATOR Film and Education Association and Cinema U-jazdowski at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, collaborate to present the 2026 Flaherty Seminar program, Gestures of Refusal. The Warsaw Pod invites participants to engage with the Flaherty Seminar through screenings, discussions and conversations facilitated by scholars, curators and artists. A special local programming will be designed to complement the Seminar’s themes.
Screenings will be presented with English and Polish subtitles.
Attendance: The Warsaw Pod is free of charge and open to the general public. Space is limited please register by clicking the button below.
For more information write to: amator.stowarzyszenie@gmail.com
Buenos aires Pod
Museo del Cine - Buenos Aires, Argentina
*Please note that the Pod in Buenos Aires will run from October 10 -11
Hosted by the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, the Buenos Aires Pod will provide an unique opportunity for Buenos Aires audiences to engage with the Flaherty Seminar through a set of four screenings, discussions, and facilitated conversations spread out in two full evenings at the Pablo Ducrós Hicken Film Museum. Located in the neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, the Film Museum is dedicated to the preservation, research, and dissemination of Argentine audiovisual heritage. It has a screening room for 60 people and a collection dedicated to the history of Argentine cinema. It also houses a library and film archive with more than 90,000 reels of film.
Screenings will be subtitled in Spanish followed by Seminar style discussions with participants.
Attendance: The Buenos Aires Pod runs from Saturday, October 10 through Sunday, October 11 and is open to the general public for free. Space is limited and entry is determined by first come, first serve basis. More registration details will be available through Museo del Cine networks.
CDMX POD AT POHUALIZCALLI
Ciudad de México, México
*Please note that the Pod in CDMX will run from October 11, 13 and 14
Hosted by Pohualizcalli: Escuela de Cine Comunitario y Fotografía, the CDMX Pod will provide an unique opportunity for Mexican audiences to engage with the Flaherty Seminar through a set of four screenings and facilitated conversations spread out over three days at Pohualizcalli Ermita 1385, San Pablo, Iztapalapa, 09000 Ciudad de México. Located in the neighborhood of San Pablo Iztapalapa as part of the Utopia Ixtapalcalli in Mexico City, Pohualizcalli is Mexico City's first free community film and photography school and has been a pioneering space for film education in Mexico City for the past six years. The screenings will be in the Quetzalcoatl theater, which has a capacity of 580.
Screenings will be subtitled in Spanish followed by Seminar style discussions with participants and guest moderators. This pod is organized by Vladimir Ordoñez, Nadia Rubalcava and Steve Holmgren.
Attendance: The CDMX Pod runs from Sunday, October 11 through Tuesday October 13 and Wednesday October 14. Screenings are open to the general public for free. Entry is determined by first come, first serve basis. More details will be available through Pohualizcalli networks.
Lisbon Pod
Lisbon, Portugal
In collaboration with The Fine Arts Faculty of the University of Lisbon (FBAUL) and The Laboratory of Cinema and Philosophy (CineLab) of IFILNOVA, NOVA FCSH), the Lisbon Pod will present the Seminar’s film programs alongside in-depth discussions with film scholars and artists. Offering an immersive program of screenings and carefully moderated conversations, the Seminar is an internationally recognized forum for field-building collective inquiry into the form and function of non-fiction cinema, encouraging the exchange of cinematic ideas across generations and cultures, and promoting the expansion of the limits of cinema itself.
Contact the Lisbon Pod organizer for free registration and further information: mailecolbert@fcsh.unl.pt
Event supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e para a Tecnologia) of the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science under the project UID/00183: NOVA Institute of Philosophy.
