Junior Schools Program
The following films have been granted ‘unrestricted’ access under our Festival license - meaning the content in them would likely get a ‘G’ classification rating for a cinema film or a C rating for a television program. They’re suitable for all ages, and we’re grouping them together for primary school teachers and children’s clubs (like Scout groups) to program National Science Week screening or discussions around. Read about them individually below, and check out the curated playlists we’ve developed for them. The themes our filmmakers have explored this year include Geology, Archaeology, Biodiversity, Astronomy & How the World Works. Note that there will be other films in the ‘Senior Schools’ playlists that you might also find appropriate for your programs, but these will have been given a higher classification (equivalent to PG or above). Check them out here. Our playlists are password-protected - get the password by registering to be a SCINEMA venue. Any questions - email us.
Our curated playlists for junior audiences for 2026
-
![]()
Full Playlist
Full 120 minute playlist of all-ages ‘junior schools’ film program.
-
![]()
Playlist: Geology
Fragmentation + Greenland: A Geological Journey through Time + Layers In History + The Year in the Wind + Trilobite + Unveiling Earth’s Climate Secrets (37 mins)
-
![]()
Playlist: Biodiversity
Alien Minds + Cats of Istanbul + Chirp Talker + Ingrained + The Connection Of Ants + The Last Leaf Knows + The Space Bears 4 Ever + The Story of Sugar + The Year in the Wind + V & Dot (80 mins)
-
![]()
Playlist: How the World Works
electron_matter + Fragmentation + Greenland: A Geological Journey through Time + Ingrained + The Last Leaf Knows + The Space Bears 4 Ever + The Story of Sugar + The Year in the Wind + Totality + Unveiling Earth’s Climate Secrets + Wonders of The Universe (88 mins)
-
![]()
Playlistlist: Skies & Space
Miss You in Dancing Cross-Stitch + The Year in the Wind + Totality + Wonders of The Universe (31 mins)
-
![]()
Playlist: Archaeology
Greenland: A Geological Journey through Time + Layers In History + The Year in the Wind + Trilobite + Unveiling Earth’s Climate Secrets (28 mins)
Individual titles in our 2026 ‘Junior Schools’ program
Alien Minds
6 mins, Germany, 2026, Directed by Florian Rudolph, English dialogue
This short documentary explores whether insects have feelings, and how we humans feel about them.
Cats of Istanbul
3 mins, Turkey & United Kingdom, 2026, Directed by Leah Hodgson and Sila Kirgiz, In Turkish language with English subtitles
electron_matter
7 mins, USA, Directed by Yan Shao and Olivier Gingras, No dialogue
Chirp Talker
5 mins, Taiwan, 2026, Directed by Audrey He-Qing Cheng, English dialogue
Fragmentation
9 mins, Canada, 2026, Directed by Baptiste Grison, No dialogue
Greenland: A Geological Journey through Time
6 mins, Austria, 2026, Directed by Gina Moseley. English dialogue
On her city balcony, Audrey delights in the chattering of tiny birds, their chirps sound like cheerful hellos, inspiring her to invent a bird-language translator that unlocks their secret conversations.
Ingrained
3 mins, Australia, 2026, Directed by Mark Bernard. No dialogue.
A visual abstract journey from a single electron to a collective quantum state. Winner of Best Experimental Film for 2026 SCINEMA.
On an ice floe at the bottom of a fjord, scientists take measurements and place instruments, before launching an icebreaker at full speed to break everything up... just to see what happens.
Spanning nearly four billion years, this sweeping cinematic journey traces Greenland’s transformation from a fiery, volcanic fragment of early Earth to a frozen giant at the center of today’s climate crisis.
A lone seed in a world that has turned its back faces isolation, doubt, and the constant threat of being forgotten.
Layers in History
3 mins, South Korea, 2026 Directed by Yeoleum Choi. No dialogue.
A group of ants goes on a field trip into deep underground to explore ancient fossils
Miss You In Dancing Cross-Stitch
14 mins, Taiwan, 2026, Directed by Li-Yu Fu, Vick Wang, Yi-Feng Kao, English dialogue.
Unveiling Earth’s Climate Secrets: paleoclimate research in Greenland
4 mins, Austria, 2026, Directed by Gina Moseley, English dialogue.
Inspired by the documentary Kedi, but with a twist of comedy and perspective. Cats describe their daily lives amongst humans in the big city of Istanbul.
Mixing animation and Sci-Fi, this musical film explores Taiwan’s traditional tribal groups, indigenous culture, the concept of sustainable development, and exploring popular STEAM.
The Connection of Ants
5 mins, Australia, 2025, Directed by Billy Ferguson. English dialogue.
A yr 12 filming assignment from a Brisbane school student gives us this fun documentary about the importance of ants
The Last Leaf Knows
5 mins, India, 2026, Directed by Amit Raj. In Hindi language with English subtitles
The Space Bears 4 Ever
32 mins, Japan, 2026, Directed by Yuki Suzuki. English dialogue.
The Story of Sugar
5 mins, USA, 2026, Directed by Yoni Goodman English dialogue.
The Year in the Wind
8 mins, Taiwan, 2026, Directed by Chih Hao Shen. No dialogue.
Totality
3 mins, USA, 2026, Directed by Lorelei Grace Patronis. English dialogue.
Trilobite
7 mins, USA, 2025, Directed by Amanda Besl. No dialogue.
Set within the ordinary rhythms of a school day, The Last Leaf Knows follows Jahnvi, a 12-year-old girl whose quiet curiosity turns a playground into a living archive of memory and nature.
Exploring the harmful effects of sugar and processed food, their contribution the health issues like diabetes, and lifestyle changes for better health.
As the wind sweeps across the swaying grass and clouds drift low, this watercolour animation captures the diverse rhythms of human existence within the relentless flow of time.
V & Dot
8 mins, Taiwan, 2025, Directed by Chih Hao Shen, No dialogue.
Tardigrades, microscopic animals measuring less than half a millimetre, are recently nicknamed “Space Bears” after surviving exposure experiments in outer space
A Florida student documents her family trip to see the 2024 solar total eclipse.
An experimental film about the convergent evolution of trilobites, pill bugs, and a woman living on the site of their ancient seabed.
The cutting-edge world of paleoclimate research in Greenland, where scientists decode the past using nature’s own records: ice cores, cave formations, ocean sediments, lakebeds, and even ancient DNA.
Wonders of the Universe
6 mins, Croatia, 2026, Directed by Bruna Benčić, and Ivor Benčić. Croatian dialogue with English subtitles.
Inspired by Indigenous mythology and endangered animals from Taiwan, the film is a dialogue-free animated fable about friendship, identity, and the quiet ways we protect one another.
A school assignment from the other side of the planet - two students from Croatia want to make a film about the universe but realise how big the task is.
FAQs
-
You are the venue in our film festival model. We will give you a password protected URL with the screening copies of the films listed above. You’ll obviously need a laptop or interactive whiteboard or screen or, if you’re lucky, your venue has a theatre. The programs go live from the second week of August, and will stay live to end of day Sunday 23 August 2026. You can play the films one at a time, in their themed programs, however you want. You need to find your own audience, do your own publicity.
-
The films listed on this page (our Junior program) have been granted an exemption from classification under festival conditions. They have ben identified as approximating a ‘G’ rating. Note that a science documentary doesn’t usually have car chases and gratuitous violence, but will often deal with adult concepts or might show surgical procedures.
-
Apologies, our film permissions loaned to us by the filmmakers who enter only cover Australia.
-
Go to National Science Week website to register as a venue, to receive your program information.