OxDocs, a new annual documentary film festival in collaboration with the University of Oxford, launches on 21 and 22 November 2026 with a programme of films and talks exploring the theme of “Hallucination”.
Bringing together filmmakers, researchers and audiences, the festival asks how perceptions are formed, how reality is experienced, and how science, nature and art can unsettle what we think we know.
Taking place at the Ultimate Picture Palace and the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, OxDocs showcases research-embedded documentary films from around the world alongside conversations with inspiring thinkers. This first edition places the many meanings of hallucination under the microscope: not simply as an unusual sensory experience, but as a force that shapes our understanding of reality in science, in nature and in everyday life.
Highlights include the feature documentary Concious by Suki Chan, screened alongside a talk delivered by Prof Anil Seth, Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, and a presentation of the inaugural OxDocs Co-Lab production programme.
