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2026 Oscar® Winner

All the Empty Rooms
2025: Telluride (World Premiere), Toronto International (International Premiere)
All the Empty Rooms
Reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp embark on a cross-country journey to memorialize the childhood bedrooms of those lost to school shootings, highlighting the urgent need for action against the rising epidemic of gun violence.
DIRECTOR Joshua Seftel
2026 Oscar® Nomination

Children No More
“Were and Are Gone”
2025 DOC NYC Short List Premiere
Children No More
“Were and Are Gone”
An observational short about a vigil that began in March 2025 with a handful of protestors standing silently in a public square in Tel Aviv, each holding a photo of a child killed in Gaza. Confronted by the images, some passersby avert their eyes. Others react with denial, sorrow, or rage. Week after week, new photos are added. More people join the protest.
DIRECTOR Hilla Medalia
2024 Oscar® Nominee

The ABCs of Book Banning
2023: Hamptons International (World Premiere)
The ABCs of Book Banning
In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the US, labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. By no accident, the themes targeted are the usual scapegoats of the American Right—LGBTQ+ issues, Black History, and women’s empowerment—impeding the power of future generations to develop their own thoughts and opinions on critical social issues.
DIRECTOR Sheila Nevins
CO-DIRECTORS Naz Habtezghi, Trish Adlesic
2025 Oscar® Shortlist

Seat 31
Zooey Zephyr
2024: Big Sky (World Premiere)
Seat 31
Zooey Zephyr
When Zooey Zephyr was expelled from the Montana House of Representatives for speaking on a bill banning transgender medical care, she made a nearby bench her “office.” Director Kimberly Reed’s cameras land next to Zooey, capturing shocking, funny, and joyous events.
DIRECTOR Kimberly Reed

The Early Works of Cheryl Dunye
The Early Works of Cheryl Dunye
Spanning 1990-1996, THE EARLY WORKS OF CHERYL DUNYE explores identity, race, culture, desire, sexuality, politics, family, and relationships, offering stories that fulfill what Dunye perceived was a lack of films about, and images of, African American lesbians.
DIRECTOR Cheryl Dunye

Birthing a Nation
The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
Birthing a Nation
The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
Short Documentary: TRT 18:44 The story of the formerly enslaved Mary Gaffneys fight for reproductive freedom serves as an enduring reminder of the commodification of Black womens bodies and the ongoing struggle for self-determination.…
DIRECTOR Nazenet Habtezghi

Alive in Bronze
Alive in Bronze
Sculptor Dana King’s hands and activist Fredrika Newton’s memories come together to build a new monument—a bust of Black Panther Party (BPP) leader Huey P. Newton for the Oakland community that he loved and shaped. As the sculpture takes form, more than just a face is revealed. From the project’s conception through its community unveiling, these two women take us on a journey to reclaim erased histories—personal and collective—and to rededicate them to the future. Music by Marcus Shelby with performance by three-time Grammy Award winner Fantastic Negrito.
DIRECTOR A.K. Sandhu

A Tattoo on My Brain
A Tattoo on My Brain
A rare look at Early Onset Alzheimer’s disease, A TATTOO ON MY BRAIN tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Dan Gibbs, a seasoned neurologist, who becomes his own patient when he suspects something is wrong with his brain. By tracking his mental state, Dan learns that he has started to develop Alzheimer’s disease and becomes a living example of how people may slow down the onset of memory loss and savor the joy of being alive.
DIRECTORS Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

Last Song From Kabul
Last Song From Kabul
The music stopped when the Taliban took over Afghanistan—it was forbidden, the penalty death. Young girls who belonged to a quiet music school had to go into hiding where they feared for themselves and their families.Now orphans with broken hearts, The Last Song in Kabul tells the riveting, heroic story of their escape to Portugal where they try to rebuild their fractured lives and begin to play music again.
DIRECTOR Kevin MacDonald
contributing director Ruhi Hamid

Black is Blue
Black is Blue
BLACK IS BLUE is a short narrative that tells the story of Black, an African American Trans man, who works as a security guard inside an apartment complex in present day Oakland, California. On the night of a ‘stud party,’ Black is forced to confront his pre-transition past, struggling to make his outside match his inside.
DIRECTOR Cheryl Dunye
2025 Oscar® Nominee

I Am Ready, Warden
2024: Big Sky (World Premiere)
I Am Ready, Warden
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Smriti Mundhra for MTV Documentary Films. In the days leading up to his execution, Texas death row prisoner John Henry Ramirez seeks redemption from his victim’s son.
DIRECTOR Smriti Mundhra