Best Short Doc
4.1 Miles is a 2016 documentary short film directed by Daphne Matziaraki. It follows the Greek coast guard's rescue work during the European migrant crisis, focusing on the practical and human consequences of maritime crossings near Greece. The title refers to the short sea distance involved in the...
In the Absence is a 2018 South Korean and American documentary short directed by Yi Seung-jun. It examines the 2014 sinking of the MV Sewol, in which more than 300 people died, most of them students, and follows the consequences for survivors' families and public demands for accountability. The film...
Ten Meter Tower, or Hopptornet, is a 2016 Swedish documentary short directed by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck. The film observes people who have never stood on a ten-meter diving tower as they decide whether to jump or climb down, turning a simple physical challenge into a study of hesi...
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) is a 2019 documentary short directed by Carol Dysinger and produced by Elena Andreicheva. It follows young Afghan girls in Kabul as they learn to read, write, and skateboard through the work of Skateistan, an organization that combines education...
Joanna is a Polish documentary short directed by Aneta Kopacz. It follows Joanna Salyga, a young mother with cancer, as she spends time with her husband and young son while confronting a limited prognosis. The film focuses on family life, illness, and the ordinary activities that structure their rem...
Extremis is a 2016 American documentary short directed by Dan Krauss. Filmed with access to an intensive care unit, it examines decisions involving doctors, patients, and families when illness reaches an end-of-life stage, including the intersection of medical judgment, faith, and personal values. T...
Walk Run Cha-Cha is a 2019 American documentary short directed and written by Laura Nix. It follows Chipaul and Millie Cao, a Vietnamese couple who were separated by the Vietnam War and later reunited in Southern California, where they take ballroom-dance lessons. The film connects their dance pract...
Edith+Eddie is a 2017 American documentary short directed by Laura Checkoway. It follows Edith Hill and Eddie Harrison, an interracial couple in their nineties whose marriage is affected by family conflict, separation, and questions involving elder care and guardianship. The film began as a portrait...
Joe's Violin is a 2016 American documentary short directed and produced by Kahane Cooperman. It follows Joe Feingold, a Polish Holocaust survivor who donates his violin through an instrument drive, and Brianna Perez, a 12-year-old student from the Bronx who receives it. The film connects the instrum...
End Game is a 2018 American documentary short directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Set in hospitals and hospice-related care, it follows patients, families, and clinicians confronting terminal illness and death, focusing on palliative medicine, end-of-life decisions, and the effort to prese...
St. Louis Superman is a 2019 American documentary short directed by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan. It follows Bruce Franks Jr., a community activist and battle rapper from St. Louis who enters Missouri politics and works on issues affecting his district. The film was nominated for the Academy Award f...
Heroin(e) is a 2017 American documentary short directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon. Filmed in Huntington, West Virginia, it follows three women whose professional and community work brings them into contact with the local opioid crisis. The film was shortlisted for the 2018 Academy Awards and nomin...
Facing Fear is a 2013 American documentary short directed by Jason Cohen. It recounts the later meeting and relationship between Matthew Boger, who survived a hate crime, and Tim Zaal, a former neo-Nazi skinhead involved in the attack. The film examines the subjects' movement from violence and preju...
Monrovia, Indiana is a 2018 American documentary feature directed, edited, and co-produced by Frederick Wiseman. The film observes daily life in the small farming community of Monrovia, Indiana, including public meetings, religious activity, work, and local social events. Its observational approach...
Knife Skills is a 2017 American documentary short directed by Thomas Lennon. It follows the opening and early operation of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, a program that trains formerly incarcerated people for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. The film...
Body Team 12 is a 2015 documentary short film directed by David Darg about a Liberian Red Cross team assigned to collect the bodies of people who died during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. The film follows the workers in communities affected by the outbreak and presents the physical danger, emotiona...
Traffic Stop is a 2017 American documentary short directed by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner. It uses dashboard-camera footage and interviews to examine a traffic stop involving Breaion King, a Black schoolteacher in Austin, Texas, whose encounter with police became the film's central subject. The...
Chau, Beyond the Lines is a 2015 documentary short directed by Courtney Marsh about Le Minh Chau, a Vietnamese teenager affected by Agent Orange who wants to become an artist and clothing designer. The film follows Chau's creative ambitions and his efforts to work within social and physical circumst...
