https://www.dctvny.org/s/firehousecinema/cinema-eye-honors?mc_cid=d67e5b5224
Each year, Cinema Eye Honors spotlights the best nonfiction short films on its Shorts List, the organization’s annual list of semi-finalists for its Nonfiction Short Film Honor. Discover this year’s Shorts List films across three programs!
Program One – 101 mins
A Swim Lesson
Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack • POV • 21 min
A Swim Lesson is an ode to an everyday hero: Bill Marsh, a swim teacher who helps children manage their fears and discover their own power when submerged in an overwhelming unknown. He has taught thousands of kids and their families to instill confidence and safety in their lives.
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
Directed by Julio Palacio • Netflix • 23 min
Makayla, a teenage girl, who has spent her life grappling with a rare form of autism that rendered her essentially nonverbal until her parents, filled with unwavering belief in their daughter’s potential, embarked on a transformative journey to discover the true depth of Makayla’s inner world.
Instruments of a Beating Heart
Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki • NY Times Op-Docs • 23 min
First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge: to perform “Ode to Joy” at a school ceremony. Their journey reveals the Japanese educational system’s tenuous balance between self-sacrifice and personal growth as it teaches the next generation to become part of society.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Directed by Molly O’Brien • Netflix • 34 min
Trailblazing double bassist Orin O’Brien was never one to seek the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philharmonic, she inevitably became the focus of media attention and, ultimately, one of the most renowned musicians of a generation.
Program Two – 96 mins
Love in the Time of Migration
Directed by Erin Semine Kökdil and Chelsea Abbas • LA Times • 21 min
Ronny and Suly are in love. The only problem is that Ronny is in the US, while Suly is in Guatemala. Love in the Time of Migration illustrates the modern-day romance between two individuals from a community deeply impacted by migration, and asks the question: Can love conquer all?
The Medallion
Directed by Ruth Hunduma • New Yorker • 19 min
A single piece of jewelry holds the story of generations. Together, filmmaker Ruth and her mother go back to Ethiopia and explore her mother’s story as a survivor of the Red Terror genocide.
A Move
Directed by Elahe Esmaili • NY Times Op-Docs • 26 min
Elahe returns to her hometown in Mashhad, Iran, to help her parents move to a new place after 40 years. Influenced by the Woman-Life-Freedom movement, she’s also hoping for a bigger move beyond just a new apartment.
Eternal Father
Directed by Ömer Sami • New Yorker • 30 min
Having started a family late in life, Nasar fears he won’t live to see his children grow up. He decides to be cryonically frozen after death, hoping they can someday reunite. His family’s dilemma: follow suit or be left behind? As the future overshadows the present, Nasar must reassess what truly matters.
Program Three – 79 mins
Contractions
Directed by Lynne Sachs • NY Times Op-Docs • 12 min
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion in the United States. In a place where a woman can no longer make decisions about her own body, a group of activist performers “speak” with the full force of their collective presence.
I Am Ready, Warden
Directed by Smitri Mundhra • MTV Documentary Films • 37 min
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.
Incident
Directed by Bill Morrison • New Yorker • 30 min
Through a montage of surveillance and police body-camera footage, a reconstruction of a deadly shooting by a Chicago police officer becomes an investigation into how a narrative begins to take shape in the aftermath.