Mother Tongue Film Festival: Family Friendly Shorts

Saturday, February 21, 2026 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

$0.00 | Friedman Family Auditorium

Planet Word is proud to again host the Smithsonian Institution’s Mother Tongue Film Festival. Celebrating cultural and linguistic diversity, the films being shown at Planet Word showcase languages and filmmakers from around the world and the richness they bring to our lives.

Through digital storytelling, the Smithsonian’s Mother Tongue Film Festival amplifies the work of diverse practitioners who explore the power of language to connect the past, present, and future.

After opening remarks, the following short films will be played consecutively, for a total run time of 43 minutes. Following a one-hour break, we will show the feature-length documentary Formas de Atravezar el Territorio (Ways to Traverse a Territory), an intimate portrayal of the Tsotsil women’s efforts to preserve local sheep breeds, maintain their connection to the Tsotsil language, and nurture agricultural traditions across generations.

América
(Peru, 2025) Director: Javier Arias-Stella, Quechua and Spanish with English subtitles

Every day, 10-year-old América (Kichwa) treks more than two hours from her isolated village in the Peruvian Andes to go to school. She is upset when told that she could fail the year if she’s late again to school. The dream of riding her own bicycle takes her on an incredible journey that leads to self-discovery, empowerment, and a newfound appreciation for her culture. (Runtime 15 minutes)

Geama
(Scotland, 2025) Director: Luca Kerr, Gaelic with English subtitles

In 1940s Edinburgh, a detective and a mob boss play a game of cards. This playful film noir, spoken entirely in Scottish Gaelic, reimagines the classic crime genre through the lens of Celtic language and culture, blending atmospheric visuals with the rhythms of Gàidhlig dialogue set against the backdrop of Scotland’s historic capital. (Runtime 4:27)

Tizita
(United States, 2025) Director: Sophiyya Nayar, Amharic

Meklit’s “Tizita”music video reflects on the passage of time and follows two flower-headed figures. She describes the flower heads as “seeing through a memory itself or through a dream where emotion and sensation are in charge, and we let go of the logic of everyday life.” Her song is from the new album A Piece of Infinity, released in 2025 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (Runtime 4:33 minutes)

Mutsk Wuäjxtë’
(México, 2024) Directors: Ximena Guzmán & Balam Toscano, Ayuuk with English and Spanish subtitles

In the first fiction short film developed with and acted by community members of the Costa Chica region of Mexico, children reenact scenes of daily life of the Cerro Costoche community. In the Ayuuk language, Cerro Costoche means “place where foxes live,” though the fox population-like the Ayuuk language- seems to be dwindling. (Runtime 6 minutes)

Akababuru: Expression of Astonishment
(Colombia, 2024) Director: Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí (Emberá-Chamí) Emberá-Chamí with English subtitles

Kari is afraid to laugh. One day she meets Kera, a young woman who tells her the legend of Kiraparamia, a woman who, according to the elders, was punished by the gods for laughing at her husband. Kera’s interpretation that Kiraparamia’s laughter actually set her free, empowers Kari to use laughter to stand up to the children who bully her and her friends. Akababuru is the first narrative film in Emberá-Chamí to be screened at Mother Tongue and reimagines Emberá mythology through the intimate lens of sisterhood and childhood. (Runtime 13 minutes)