Video
Documentaries and narrative short films from around the world.
Connecting with Trans History, Rebellion, and Joy, in “Compton’s 22”
Drew de Pinto’s documentary explores the legacy of a 1966 riot in the Tenderloin that was nearly lost to history.
Film by Drew de Pinto
June 5, 2024
The New Yorker Documentary
Short films that offer uncommon perspectives on pressing global issues. See more »
- The New Yorker Documentary
Family Bonds Protect a Trans Teen in Texas
The documentary “Love to the Max” captures one family’s determination to live authentically in an anti-trans political climate.Film by Tanya Selvaratnam and Rose Bush
Text by Emily Witt
- The New Yorker Documentary
The Black Mothers Fighting to Get Their Kids Back, in “To Be Invisible”
Myah Overstreet’s film follows two women trying to regain custody of their children and explores the injustice of family separation.Film by Myah Overstreet
- The New Yorker Documentary
Laughing in the Face of Dying Young, in “Cherry”
The actor Marie-Lise Chouinard faces her terminal-cancer diagnosis with grace and comedy in Laurence Gagné-Frégeau’s short documentary.Film by Laurence Gagné-Frégeau
Text by Miguel Florencio
- The New Yorker Documentary
An Iranian Woman Finds Her Might, in “The Smallest Power”
Both the subject and the makers of this animated short discover their identities and a new love of their nation.Animation by Naghmeh Farzaneh
Film by Andy Sarjahani
Text by Robin Wright
- The New Yorker Documentary
Crashes and Community in “Demolition”
In Alec Sutherland’s short film, upstate New York’s demolition derbies are a loud, brutal, deeply physical antidote to the isolation of digital life.Film by Alec Sutherland
Text by Zach Helfand
- The New Yorker Documentary
Flipping the Script on Trans Medical Encounters
Noah Schamus and Brit Fryer’s short film offers a vision of how physicians and trans patients can meet one another on equal footing.Film by Noah Schamus and Brit Fryer
Text by Stef M. Shuster
- The New Yorker Documentary
For Black Women, Embracing Natural Hair Is About More Than Style
Lindsay Opoku-Acheampong’s film “Textures” follows three women through the private and meaningful rituals of caring for their hair.Film by Lindsay Opoku-Acheampong
Text by Natalie Meade
- The New Yorker Documentary
A Teen-Ager’s Quest to Manage His O.C.D. in “Lost in My Mind”
In Charles Frank’s short film, a young man offers a candid look at life with O.C.D. and his experiences with exposure therapy.Film by Charles Frank
Text by Eric Nelson
- The New Yorker Documentary
A Ukrainian TikTok Influencer Shares Her Life as a Refugee in “Following Valeria”
Nicola Fegg’s short documentary follows a young woman who becomes a social-media star during the war in Ukraine.Film by Nicola Fegg
Text by Anna Kordunsky
- The New Yorker Documentary
Roger J. Carter’s Toy Soldiers and Black Revolutionaries
Justin Fairweather’s short film “Roger J. Carter: Rebel Revolutionary” shows how the artist arrived at his innovative way of making portraits of Black figures.Film by Justin Fairweather
Text by Yinuo Shi
- The New Yorker Documentary
Bowling Without Sight, in “Friday Night Blind”
Scott Krahn and Robb Fischer’s short film follows a trio of friends who take part in a bowling league for people who are visually impaired.Film by Scott Krahn and Robb Fischer
Text by Vivian Cheng
- The New Yorker Documentary
One Man’s Fight to Close the Racial Wealth Gap, in “The Barber of Little Rock”
John Hoffman and Christine Turner’s short film follows Arlo Washington as he helps members of his community escape the hazards of banking while Black.Film by John Hoffman and Christine Turner
Text by Maya Chesley
- The New Yorker Documentary
A Pioneer of Echolocation for the Blind in “Echo”
The filmmakers Ben Wolin and Michael Minahan’s documentary short follows Daniel Kish, who uses clicks and echoes to listen his way through the world.Film by Michael Minahan and Ben Wolin
Text by Erin Neil
- The New Yorker Documentary
A Land-Mine Survivor’s Resilience, in “Carpenter”
Khalil Sahragard’s documentary short follows an amputee in Kurdistan who carves prosthetics for others who, like him, have lost limbs to explosives after the Iran-Iraq War.Film by Khalil Sahragard
Text by Daniel Ajootian
- The New Yorker Documentary
The Euphoria of Cold-Water Immersion in “Swimming Through”
In Samantha Sanders’s documentary short, a group of Chicago women find pandemic solace, in a death-defying winter ritual.Film by Samantha Sanders
Text by Vera Carothers
The Screening Room
Fictional short films that spark curiosity. See more »
- Screening Room
A Father-Daughter Swearing Lesson in “The F-Word”
In Alex Cannon’s comedic short, starring Chris Gethard, a dad struggles to give an age-appropriate explanation of the expletive.Film by Alex Cannon and Paul Cannon
- Screening Room
Flirtation and Confrontation in “Sparring Partner”
In J. J. Kandel’s short film, the lunch-break banter of a flirtatious pair of co-workers, played by Cecily Strong and KeiLyn Durrel Jones, gives way to uncomfortable revelations.Film by J. J. Kandel
Text by Lauren Elyse Garcia
- Screening Room
A Family Reunion with High Jinks and Catharsis in “Cousins”
In Karina Dandashi’s short film, a night out shortens the distance between two cousins.Produced by Aya Hamdan
Film by Karina Dandashi
Text by Maggie Sheldon
- Screening Room
Richard Kind on Making a Short Film About Making a Short Film
Max Cohn and Ellie Sachs’s short film, “Proof of Concept,” offers a humorous meta-riff on the movie business and a tour of the Upper West Side.Film by Max Cohn and Ellie Sachs
Text by Naomi Fry
- Screening Room
Coming of Age While Confronting Arab Stereotypes, in “Simo”
An Egyptian teen-ager, living in the suburbs of Montreal with his brother and father, confronts the sting of racism at home, in the writer and director Aziz Zoromba’s film “Simo.”Film by Aziz Zoromba
Text by Paul Moakley
- Screening Room
Grief and Comedy Come Together in “Knight of Fortune”
In Lasse Lyskjær Noer’s short film, two widowers lean on each other for emotional support.Film by Lasse Lyskjær Noer
Text by Eric Nelson
- Screening Room
A Murdered Israeli Filmmaker’s Prophetic Warning, in “The Boy”
Yahav Winner’s final work captures the dissonance of life along the Israel-Gaza border.Film by Yahav Winner
Text by Daniel Lombroso
- Screening Room
Class, Care, and Transitions in “Nauha”
In Pratham Khurana’s short film, about a young man working as a home health aide, resentment and tenderness exist side by side.Film by Pratham Khurana
Text by Eric Nelson
- Screening Room
In “Troy,” Loud Sex, Thin Walls, Curious Neighbors
Mike Donahue’s funny and touching short film depicts a New York City couple and their very sexually active neighbor.Film by Mike Donahue
Text by Douglas Watson
- Screening Room
Inner Turmoil Meets Atmospheric Turbulence in “AIRHOSTESS-737”
A flight attendant tries to conceal physical and emotional pain with a coat of bright-red lipstick, in Thanasis Neofotistos’s short film.Film by Thanasis Neofotistos
Text by Hannah Aizenman
- Screening Room
The Temptations of A.I. Companionship in “Rachels Don’t Run”
In Joanny Causse’s short film, a call-center operator inserts herself into the relationship between a client and his A.I. girlfriend.Film by Joanny Causse
Text by Noreen Plabutong
- Screening Room
Quiet and Confrontation in “The Pass”
In Pepi Ginsberg’s short film, an innocent swim turns into a menacing encounter with homophobia.Film by Pepi Ginsberg
Text by Nathan Burstein
- Screening Room
A Family’s Journey to Acting and Acceptance in “Foreign Uncle”
After Sining Xiang came out to his parents, he decided to dramatize the experience in a short film—and cast his loved ones as themselves.Film by Sining Xiang
Text by Yinuo Shi
- Screening Room
An A.I.-Generated Film Depicts Human Loneliness, in “Thank You for Not Answering”
The artist Paul Trillo thinks of the A.I. filmmaking tools he used as “co-directing” the evocative short.By Kyle Chayka
- Screening Room
A Loner’s Misadventures, in “The Diamond”
In Vedran Rupic’s short film, a solitary man looks for love, and friendship, in all the wrong ways.Film by Vedran Rupic
Text by Douglas Watson