Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts Directors on Their Works and Hoping to Make an Impact: ‘We Wanted People to See This Raw, Unflinching Portrait’
The five Oscar-nominated doc shorts pack a lot of punch into their brief time on screen. The filmmakers talked to Variety about their documentaries.
All the Empty Rooms
Joshua Seftel’s “All the Empty Rooms” explores the bedrooms of eight American children who were killed during a school shooting. Each room, preserved by the victim’s parents, looks exactly how it did when each child left on their final day off to school. “There are over 100 school shootings a year in the U.S., and it’s so disheartening to me that this has become normal and acceptable to us,” says Seftel. “I wanted to make a film that could reframe this issue. To remove the issue from the usual political debate and focus on the part we all agree upon: That we all want our children to be safe at school.” Seftel hopes that the 34-minute Netflix doc will help Americans across the country fully appreciate the human toll of school shootings. “My hope is that by laying bare the stories of these empty rooms and these forgotten families who are grappling with grief and loss, we can begin to feel something again.”
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
Directed by Hilla Medalia and produced by the documentary industry’s grande dame, Sheila Nevins, “Children No More: Were and Are Gone” follows Tel Aviv activists who gather weekly to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Gaza with a silent vigil for the children killed in Israeli attacks. “When I first encountered the vigil and experienced the power of their activism, I immediately felt the need to document the experience,” Medalia says. “Their silence was powerful — a tool that encourages reflection rather than explanation — and I felt a very clear sense of courage in a simple action filled with deep meaning. As a filmmaker, I had been grappling with my role and responsibilities during this war, and for me this work became a way to step outside our shared pain and to look directly at things that are absent from the media — including the devastating human toll of Israel’s policies in Gaza, especially on children who were full of life and possibility and are now no more.” The film is being distributed by Roadside Attractions.
The Devil Is Busy
The 32-minute HBO short takes viewers on a daylong journey with Tracii, the head of security at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, as she works to ensure the safety of women seeking abortions in the face of new restrictions and persistent protests. Directors Geeta Gandbhir (also Oscar-nominated for “The Perfect Neighbor”) and Christalyn Hampton say that they made the film “because we wanted everyone to see what this intense, disturbing new reality looks like on a human level. We wanted viewers to experience the impact of this abortion decision and see the complexity of emotions around abortion as it relates to faith, agency, power, and how it hurts women and the people struggling to care for them. We wanted people to see this raw, unflinching portrait long after the media and the activism had died down and no one was talking about abortion. We didn’t want these women to be forgotten.”
The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
In 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud became the first American journalist to die when Russian soldiers killed him while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and lifelong filmmaking partner, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and decided to make a film that weaves together decades of the brothers’ reporting from global conflict zones, including Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, and Central America. Renaud hopes that the 37-minute HBO doc incites change. “According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, it is the deadliest time to be a journalist on record. Since Brent’s death on March 13, 2022, more than 400 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide,” Renaud says. “My hope is that the film will inspire people and governments to protect the free press, the right to witness and the right of journalists to report the news, and of the public to receive it.”
Perfectly a Strangeness
In Alison McAlpine’s “Perfectly a Strangeness,” three donkeys discover an abandoned astronomical observatory. McAlpine made the 15-minute film for several reasons. “I wanted to redefine what a story can be, working with texture, movement, light, shadow, reflections, sound, rhythm, no text, (thus) creating cinema that you want to touch like an exquisite painting, or a poem that you want to experience again and again,” McAlpine says. “I wanted to express not the well-known anthropomorphic view of animals, in particular donkeys, nor the familiar perception of astronomical observatories. But rather to immerse the viewer in a sensorial experience. which feels animalic, fresh, and unforgettable.”
All the Empty Rooms
Joshua Seftel’s “All the Empty Rooms” explores the bedrooms of eight American children who were killed during a school shooting. Each room, preserved by the victim’s parents, looks exactly how it did when each child left on their final day off to school. “There are over 100 school shootings a year in the U.S., and it’s so disheartening to me that this has become normal and acceptable to us,” says Seftel. “I wanted to make a film that could reframe this issue. To remove the issue from the usual political debate and focus on the part we all agree upon: That we all want our children to be safe at school.” Seftel hopes that the 34-minute Netflix doc will help Americans across the country fully appreciate the human toll of school shootings. “My hope is that by laying bare the stories of these empty rooms and these forgotten families who are grappling with grief and loss, we can begin to feel something again.”
Children No More: Were and Are Gone
Directed by Hilla Medalia and produced by the documentary industry’s grande dame, Sheila Nevins, “Children No More: Were and Are Gone” follows Tel Aviv activists who gather weekly to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Gaza with a silent vigil for the children killed in Israeli attacks. “When I first encountered the vigil and experienced the power of their activism, I immediately felt the need to document the experience,” Medalia says. “Their silence was powerful — a tool that encourages reflection rather than explanation — and I felt a very clear sense of courage in a simple action filled with deep meaning. As a filmmaker, I had been grappling with my role and responsibilities during this war, and for me this work became a way to step outside our shared pain and to look directly at things that are absent from the media — including the devastating human toll of Israel’s policies in Gaza, especially on children who were full of life and possibility and are now no more.” The film is being distributed by Roadside Attractions.
The Devil Is Busy
The 32-minute HBO short takes viewers on a daylong journey with Tracii, the head of security at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, as she works to ensure the safety of women seeking abortions in the face of new restrictions and persistent protests. Directors Geeta Gandbhir (also Oscar-nominated for “The Perfect Neighbor”) and Christalyn Hampton say that they made the film “because we wanted everyone to see what this intense, disturbing new reality looks like on a human level. We wanted viewers to experience the impact of this abortion decision and see the complexity of emotions around abortion as it relates to faith, agency, power, and how it hurts women and the people struggling to care for them. We wanted people to see this raw, unflinching portrait long after the media and the activism had died down and no one was talking about abortion. We didn’t want these women to be forgotten.”
The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
In 2022, filmmaker Brent Renaud became the first American journalist to die when Russian soldiers killed him while reporting on the war in Ukraine. His younger brother and lifelong filmmaking partner, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and decided to make a film that weaves together decades of the brothers’ reporting from global conflict zones, including Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, and Central America. Renaud hopes that the 37-minute HBO doc incites change. “According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, it is the deadliest time to be a journalist on record. Since Brent’s death on March 13, 2022, more than 400 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide,” Renaud says. “My hope is that the film will inspire people and governments to protect the free press, the right to witness and the right of journalists to report the news, and of the public to receive it.”
Perfectly a Strangeness
In Alison McAlpine’s “Perfectly a Strangeness,” three donkeys discover an abandoned astronomical observatory. McAlpine made the 15-minute film for several reasons. “I wanted to redefine what a story can be, working with texture, movement, light, shadow, reflections, sound, rhythm, no text, (thus) creating cinema that you want to touch like an exquisite painting, or a poem that you want to experience again and again,” McAlpine says. “I wanted to express not the well-known anthropomorphic view of animals, in particular donkeys, nor the familiar perception of astronomical observatories. But rather to immerse the viewer in a sensorial experience. which feels animalic, fresh, and unforgettable.”