Program Description

This collection of four documentary shorts epitomizes the symbiotic work of journalism and filmmaking. From voices including Emmy-winning Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda and veteran CBS reporter Steve Hartman, these films deploy animation, archives, and photography to explore history and legacy in personal and public realms. Spaces are sites of collective memory: the empty bedroom of a school shooting victim, or the basketball court, which becomes an unlikely arena for Black civil rights struggles. Filmmakers recall the resistance against the war in Vietnam and paint a portrait of fishing in Gaza amid ongoing bombardment. Resistance is collaborative across timescales and communities; so is filmmaking. In this program, established and emerging voices in nonfiction film heed a timely call to remember the past, witness the present, and steward the future. -Sabrina Kim

Guests Expected

Director Joshua Seftel of All the Empty Rooms and Director Glenn Kaino of Hoops, Hopes & Dreams will be in attendance for a post screening Q&A.

Films are in alphabetical order rather than order of play. The total runtime is 90 min.

All the Empty Rooms
Joshua Seftel (USA 2025, 33 min)
Journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp visit the empty bedrooms of victims of school shootings, offering rich portraits of spaces, families, and love.

Also Resisters
Christina D. Bartson (USA/UK 2025, 14 min)
Lyrical and prophetic, this archival film draws on the writing of American pacifist David E. McReynolds to trace the development of American militarism and antiwar resistance from the late 20th century to the present.

Free Fish
Bisan Owda (Palestine/Portugal 2025, 23 min)
Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda documents the daily life of fishermen on the besieged shores of the Gaza Strip, home to 4,500 fishermen.

Hoops, Hopes & Dreams
Glenn Kaino (USA 2025, 20 min)
The Black civil rights struggle from Martin Luther King Jr. to Barack Obama’s historic presidency amassed community and power from an unlikely common denominator between the people and political leaders: basketball.

Accessibility Information

Closed Captions are currently only confirmed for Free Fish and Hoops, Hopes & Dreams

Open captions are confirmed for Also Resisters

Audio Descriptions are not currently confirmed for this program

American Sign Language Interpretation is not currently scheduled for this program