RARE: A Rare Disease Revolution – John Beder and Lainey Moseley

Lainey Moseley and John Beder (USA), RARE: A Rare Disease Revolution, Doc Feature – Emmy winner Moseley and Emmy-nominee Beder bring to light the profound challenges faced by families battling rare diseases. From a soldier to a musician, from an immigrant family to a mother of twins, these parents become scientists and warriors, navigating laboratories, legislative halls, and their own homes in relentless pursuit of hope. With beautiful cinematography, pitch-perfect pacing, and deft direction, the film follows six families as they confront the complexities of diagnosis, treatment, and advocacy in an often indifferent healthcare system.  Moseley’s journey as an advocate underscores the transformative power of determination and community in the face of overwhelming odds. The film illuminates the personal and emotional landscapes of these families while exposing systemic barriers that hinder progress in rare disease treatment. It challenges viewers to reconsider the value of human lives in medical research and pharmaceutical development, urging a shift toward a more compassionate and inclusive approach to healthcare. Ultimately, it is a compelling call to action, inspiring empathy, advocacy, and a collective commitment to ensuring that no disease is too rare to care about.

WindShipped – Jon Bowermaster

Jon Bowermaster (USA), WindShipped, Doc Short – Bowermaster delivers a masterful, heartfelt, and forward-thinking documentary chronicling the revival of sail-powered cargo on New York’s Hudson River. The 65-foot steel-hulled Schooner Apollonia, restored through an arduous and exacting restoration and run entirely on wind, solar, and (occasionally) vegetable oil, has spent three seasons delivering local goods—malt, honey, pumpkins, whiskey, hot sauce, and more—without burning a drop of fossil fuel. A passionate, dedicated, and charismatic crew brings the ship to life, creating some of the film’s most relatable and emotionally resonant moments while connecting communities along the river. Blending history, adventure, poetry, and environmentalism, the film highlights a small but meaningful alternative to fossil fuel dependency and encourages broader reflection on low-carbon logistics and community-based supply chains. Under the expert direction of Bowermaster—filmmaker, adventurer, and six-time National Geographic Expeditions Council grantee—it’s an inspiring testament to what determination, creativity, and respect for the natural world can achieve.

Take Heart: Songlines – Mike Hill and Lorraine Kabbindi White

Mike Hill and Lorraine Kabbindi White (Australia), Take Heart: Songlines, Doc Feature – Emmy-winner Hill and Lorraine Kabbindi White deliver a powerful, heartfelt exploration of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Indigenous communities across Australia. The film follows compelling experts and families, revealing heart-breaking individual stories of children and young people whose lives have been cut short by a preventable disease. These stories expose not only the devastating personal impact but also the systemic neglect that allows such a crisis to persist. Through strong, empathetic direction, the documentary highlights resilience, hope, and the urgent need for meaningful systemic change. Interweaving the cultural significance of songlines—traditional pathways connecting land, people, and stories—it transforms a public health crisis into a story of hope, determination, and the power of collective action. With evocative cinematography and poignant storytelling, it’s a call to recognize the strength of communities confronting injustice and fighting for life.

Sandpipers’ Last Supper – Isabelle Groc

Isabelle Groc (Canada), Sandpipers’ Last Supper, Doc Short – A poignant doc that tells the story of the western sandpiper’s long-distance migration and the vital role of intertidal biofilm in their survival. It follows charming and earnest scientist Bob Elner, whose three-decade quest has advanced understanding of these remarkable birds, alongside charismatic marine biologist and TV personality Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, who brings insight, humor, and heart as she engages with Elner and young bird enthusiasts making a difference.  Set at Roberts Bank in Canada, one of the last intact estuarine mudflat habitats, it reveals how these nutrient-rich mudflats sustain sandpipers and the broader ecosystem. Facing threats from proposed development, these critical habitats are at risk, jeopardizing migration and the fragile web of life that depends on them.  Highlighting individual stories and the rapid decline of shorebirds worldwide, it issues a call to action, urging audiences to protect these vital habitats and the life they sustain. Aired on CBC, it is both a scientific journey and a deeply moving reflection on resilience, wonder, and the delicate connections that sustain our natural world.

Chuck Fishbein and Tim Stevens  (USA), PTSD: The Invisible Enemy, Doc Feature – Narrated by Emmy nominee Joe Montegna. Since 2001, more than 30,000 veterans have died by suicide from PTSD’s grip. With Vietnam-era soldiers aging, the toll nears 44 lives a day. This powerfully crafted film confronts the silent epidemic stealing our heroes, demanding we face the human cost before more lives are lost.

Michael Ien Cohen (USA), Humanity Stoked, Doc Feature – confronting fear and the challenges that shape humanity, seen through the lives of skateboarders. It explores resilience, empathy, and the human spirit, highlighting personal struggles and triumphs through expertly conducted, deeply touching interviews, including icon Tony Hawk and Emmy-nominee Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Shalom Jordana Almond (Australia), Songs Inside, Doc Feature – intimate, emotionally compelling Doc chronicling a small group of women in an Australian prison discovering the healing power of music. Guided by First Nations singer-songwriter Nancy Bates, it reveals trauma, addiction, and fear while celebrating hope, transformation, and the historic concert that brought their voices—and resilience—to life.

Maggie Burnette Stogner (USA), Upstream, Downriver: Uniting for Water Justice, Doc Feature – dives into America’s water crisis, where polluted rivers and unsafe drinking water hit poor and Indigenous communities hardest. Through masterful direction and craft, it lays bare systemic injustice while honoring the courage and hope of those fighting to reclaim what’s rightfully theirs.

David Schaupp (USA), No Place to Grow Old, Doc Feature – captures a growing crisis unfolding quietly across America: older adults aging into homelessness. Heartbreaking stories reveal the grit, humor, and stubborn grace of those affected, exposing systemic failures and offering an unflinching, deeply human look at a crisis too often unseen in a vulnerable population.

Jessica Walsh and Brendan Walsh (USA), Seeing the Unseen: Aquatic Invaders & What’s at Stake, Doc Feature – Emmy winning Walsh’s reveal invasive aquatic species threaten ecosystems, disrupt habitats, and challenge conservation, highlighting early detection, community action, and personal responsibility. Great Lakes Media & Film, in partnership with Mary Walsh and Amy Jewitt of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Hilco Jansma (Netherlands), The Spoonbill in a Stirring World, Doc Feature – The iconic white spoonbill, once nearly extinct, now embodies one of the Netherlands’ greatest conservation triumphs. Following their migration to Africa, it shows their fight for survival against storms, predators, and habitat loss, and the devotion of people protecting them, brought to life with stunning cinematography and a lush soundtrack.

 

Anna Klauzner, Compass ABC (Australia), The DJ and the Gospel Choir, Doc Short – The Soweto Gospel Choir teams up with Australian DJ Groove Terminator in a bold musical collaboration. This doc explores apartheid’s impact, the choir’s roots, and shared values of diversity and inclusivity, showing how music elevates stories, bridges cultures, celebrates resilience, and inspires audiences worldwide.

Peter Klomp, UEFA (Switzerland), UEFA Take Care Web Series: Youth Health & Well-being, Doc Short – Launched in 2025, UEFA’s initiative uses football to promote healthier lifestyles among children and young people across Europe. Each episode educates and inspires with insights from football legends, experts, and real-life initiatives, featuring deft direction, engaging interviews, and wildly dynamic editing.

John DeMaio (USA), ThoughtWaves, Doc Short – Emmy-winner DeMaio delivers a compelling doc tracing the origins of the internet and fiber broadband. From the first handshake between computers to the invention of fiber optics, it spans five decades of innovation, celebrates the visionaries behind these breakthroughs, and features expert interviews showing how technology reshapes human connection and narrows the digital divide.

Sebastien Daguerressar and Kyungsoo Jang (Korea/France), The Fight of Pyo Ye-Rim, Doc Short – This heart-wrenching doc portrays Pyo Ye-Rim’s decade-long suffering under relentless bullying, exposing a worldwide crisis. The filmmakers capture her courage, fear, and isolation with profound sensitivity, culminating in her tragic suicide, leaving a searing call for empathy, justice, and urgent systemic change.  Babel Doc

Rhiju Talukdar, Dot Films (India), Raising Kandhamal – A Redwing Deployment Story, Doc Short – An intimate portrait of the impoverished Rupamajhi family and many isolated, struggling communities in India. It follows Redwing’s passionate team using drones to deliver tests and medicine in hours instead of a day-long journey, capturing suffering, hope, courage, ingenuity, and resilience, with lush cinematography.

Andrew Lynch, Ben Ayers and Rush Sturges (United Kingdom), The Human Side of Plastic: Babacar Thiaw, Doc Short – Babacar Thiaw, a Senegalese surfer, entrepreneur, and activist, fights his country’s plastic crisis while honoring his family’s coastal heritage. Through founding Senegal’s first zero-waste restaurant and leading community initiatives, he channels passion into action, showing how one person’s dedication can inspire a global environmental movement.

Dean Gregory Love (USA), If You Tell Anyone, Doc Short – Emmy-winner Love confronts the unflinching reality of Nathan Spiteri’s life, from the shadows of childhood sexual abuse to his fight for healing. With searing insights from trauma expert Dr. Norman Fried and activist Jane Randall, the doc presents Nathan as one story in a vast epidemic, bearing witness to courage, survival, and the power to reclaim life.

Aaron Johnson (USA), The 17%, Documentary Short, Disability Issues (Student)

 

 

Amel Tresnjic (Australia), Unlocking The Potential: The Vital Role of Specialist Education, Documentary Feature

 

 

Andrew Lynch, Ben Ayers and Rush Sturges (United Kingdom), The Human Side Of Plastic: Babacar Thiaw, Use of Film / Video for Social Change

 

 

Beatrice Becette, Karin Tanabe, Victoria Kelly, Blue Chalk Media (USA), Atomic Echoes, Documentary Feature, Women Filmmakers

 

 

Benjamin Flaherty (USA), SHUFFLE, Documentary Feature

 

 

Brit Liggett (USA), I See Blue: SHOFCO and Kenya’s People Power Movement, Documentary Short

 

 

Carolyn Jones (USA), American Delivery, Documentary Feature

 

 

Catherine Barker (Australia), When the River Rose, Documentary Feature

 

 

Chuck Fishbein (USA), PTSD: The Invisible Enemy, Use of Film / Video for Social Change

 

 

David Jobanputra (United Kingdom), Any Other Day: A Cholera Story, Documentary Short, Health / Medicine / Science

 

 

David Schaupp (USA), No Place to Grow Old, Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising

 

 

Dean Love (USA), If You Tell Anyone, Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising

 

 

Dean Paul Thomas Rainey (Canada), Why Can’t We Talk About This?, Documentary Feature

 

 

Giedre Geneviciute (Lithuania), The Head, Documentary Feature

 

 

Herve Marcotte (France), ALONG THE THREAD OF THE OTHER, Creativity / Originality

 

 

Howard Ellis (USA), Bar None: Cannabis Redemption, Documentary Feature, Viewer Impact: Motivational / Inspirational

 

 

Jane Centofante (USA), Saffron Robe, Original Score

 

 

Jessica Walsh and Brendan Walsh of Great Lakes Media & Film, in partnership with Mary Walsh and Amy Jewitt of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (USA), Seeing The Unseen: Aquatic Invaders & What’s at Stake, Nature / Environment / Wildlife

 

John DeMaio (USA), ThoughtWaves, Liberation / Social Justice / Protest

 

 

Jose Francisco Malave (USA), A Greater Purpose, Documentary Short

 

 

Kathryn Carlson, SideXSide Studios (USA), Finding Us, Documentary Short, African American Theme, Women Filmmakers

 

 

Kevin Hanlon (USA), Bill W Conscious Contact, Documentary Feature, Religion / Ethics, Viewer Impact: Motivational / Inspirational

 

 

Konoz Initiative – Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia), The Destination, Documentary Feature, Documentary Program / Series, Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising, Direction

 

 

Lisa Le Lievre (USA), Closer Than Yesterday, Documentary Feature

 

 

Lorraine Kabbindi White and Mike Hill (Australia), Take Heart: Songlines, Cinematography, Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising

 

 

Lynn Santer (Australia), Land of the Free: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, Documentary Short, Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising, Nature / Environment / Wildlife

 

 

Manny Bains and Serge Velbovets (Canada), The Cure: An Inside Job, Documentary Feature

 

 

Marta György-Kessler (United Kingdom), Meeting the Buddha, Documentary Feature

 

 

Nicolette Aubourg (USA), I Am Not Hamas (Song for Gaza), Contemporary Issues / Awareness Raising

 

 

Pamela Hoge (USA), CITIZEN RUTH environmental warrior, Documentary Feature

 

 

Peter Klomp, UEFA (Switzerland), UEFA Take Care Web Series: Youth Health & Well-being, Documentary Short

 

 

Ryan Wirick (USA), Farmacy of Light: A Quantum Leap In Healing, Documentary Feature

 

 

Simone Piccoli (Egypt), FRAGILE, Videography

 

 

Violet Lee, Bella Gao and Anna Xie (China), Encountering the Village, Documentary Short

 

 

Wilson McCourtney (USA), Fighting For Florida, Documentary Feature

 

 

Zeljko Mirkovic (USA), He is UCONN- Big Red, Documentary Short, Sports / Fitness

 

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