Exclusive Trailer for Prismatic Ground 2026 Showcases the Future of Film in NYC

      Returning for its sixth year, Prismatic Ground continues to stand out as one of the most diverse annual exhibitions of experimental documentary and avant-garde filmmaking, demonstrating that cinematic artistry remains as dynamic as ever. Established and led by Inney Prakash and co-presented by Screen Slate, the 2026 edition is set to occur from Wednesday, April 29 to Sunday, May 3, featuring five "waves" of screenings at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, Light Industry, Anthology Film Archives, and Metrograph, as well as a virtual selection wave ∞. In anticipation of the festival's start, we are excited to exclusively unveil the festival trailer, edited by Graham Carter.

      The festival will commence with the North American premiere of Ka Ki Wong’s I Heard That They Are Not Going to See Each Other Anymore, followed by Nicolás Pereda’s Cobre on Opening Night at BAM.

      As Screen Slate highlights, the full program includes new films from Dane Komljen, Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi, Rajee Samarasinghe, Dianna Barrie and Richard Tuohy, Onyeka Igwe, Adam and Zack Khalil, Lee Jangwook, among others; three early projects by Iraqi-Lebanese filmmaker Parine Jaddo; "Horror, or the Splendour of," a second consecutive evening of poetry and film curated by Courtney Stephens and Shiv Kotecha; a homage by Blair Barnes to the Sony AVC Vidicon line of cameras, featuring Andrew Bujalski, the filmmaker behind Computer Chess, in attendance; a spotlight on Chinese avant-garde short films co-presented by Tone Glow; a tribute to June Givanni by Onyeka Igwe; and additional performances and readings by Rhayne Vermette, Chae Yu, Félix Caraballo, Xiaolu Wang, and Samy Benammar. The recipient of this year’s Ground Glass Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Experimental Media is Japanese filmmaker Kohei Ando, who will be present on May 2 at Anthology Film Archives for a presentation of his works. The festival will conclude at Metrograph on the evening of May 3 with the New York premiere of Isiah Medina’s Gangsterism.

      Check out the exclusive trailer below, along with the complete lineup. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit the official website. If you want a glimpse of previous editions, be sure to explore the Criterion Channel series.

      **Opening Night**

      Brooklyn Academy of Music — Wednesday, April 29, 2026

      7 PM: I Heard That They Are Not Going to See Each Other Anymore (Ka Ki Wong, 2026, 86 min.) + Q&A

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      **Wave 1: Murder Mystery of the Mind**

      Brooklyn Academy of Music— Wednesday, April 29, 2026

      9:15 PM: Cobre (Nicolas Pereda, 2025, 79 min)*

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      *Co-presented by Cinema Tropical

      DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema— Thursday, April 30, 2026

      12:30 PM: Programming Censorship Workshop

      Free Registration

      3 PM: Goodbye, Crescent Moon (Xiaolu Wang, 2025, 17 min, Expanded) + A Flower Falling Back Into the Earth (Rajee Samarasinghe, 2026, 8 min) + A Bundle of Silences (Sofía Gallisá Muriente, 2026, 24 min) + Penkelemes (Onyeka Igwe, 2025, 19 min) + New World (Darryl Daley, 2026, 5 min) + Q&A

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      5 PM: Afterlives (Kevin B. Lee, 2025, 88 min) + Q&A

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      7:30 PM: The Creature of Darkness (Lisa Malloy, Ray Whitaker, 2026, 15 min) + Let Them Be Seen (Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi, 2026, 75 min) + Q&A

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      9:30 PM: Swing Swish Sway (TT Takemoto, 2026, 7 min) + Uchronia (Fil Ieropoulos, 2026, 97 min) + Q&A

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      11:45 PM: Anna (Chae Yu, 2025, 15 min, Expanded) + That Sanity Be Kept (Michael Barwise, 2026, 10 min) + A Shrimp’s Daily Rehearsal (Ka Ki Wong, 2026, 10 min) + My Structuralist Film (Angelo Madsen, 2026, 6 min) + Injured? (Eislow Johnson, 2026, 14 min) + Twin Snakes (Lev