Free for All Shorts
Free For All Shorts runs from Sept. 20 through Sept. 27, 2026.
Jump to a film on this page:
There are 32 films in the shorts program.
MOTHERS OF COURAGE
In the state of Bihar, in India, where educational inequity is often shaped by deeply rooted socio-cultural norms, change rarely begins in classrooms. It begins in conversations. Mothers of Courage tells the story of women who transform traditional village gathering spaces into powerful platforms for educational change, called Shiksha Chaupal. Mothers of Courage reveals how lasting educational change begins not with policy alone, but with courage, dialogue, and community ownership.
MR. HAPPY
Mr. Happy, an enthusiastic Saigon local in Ho Chi Minh City, challenges outdated perceptions of Vietnam by revealing the city beyond its tourist facade. Through a community-based tour he creates, he immerses visitors in everyday life, transforming outsiders into locals and reshaping how they see the city, its culture, and their own sense of belonging.
NEIGHBORS
A working mom, burnt out by political discourse online, commits an impulsive act against her neighbor from the opposing party.
NURSE: Empathy Heals
While people may think they know what nurses do, “Nurse: Empathy Heals” reveals the challenges nurses face on a daily basis and celebrates them as the heroes they truly are.
ONE FIGHTING IRISHMAN
The little-known story of San Francisco activist attorney Wayne Collins whose passionate and uncompromising defense of the Constitutional rights of Japanese Americans drove him to spend more than 23 years defending more than 5,500 of those who renounced their US citizenship while imprisoned at the worst of the WWII concentration camps, the Tule Lake Segregation Center.
SECOND RESPONDERS
Second Responders explores the emotional aftermath of the 2023 Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting from the perspective of public school teachers. The film examines the invisible burden educators carry in the wake of violence and the resilience required to return to school after a community is forever changed.
THE BOOK OF NEMO: A Psychedelic Gospel
An American has a psychedelic experience where a spiritual encounter reckons with his morality.
THE DANUBE DELTA AND THE HEALING POWER OF NATURE
What if preserving wild nature could help heal the bodies, dreams, and landscapes of a country scarred by years of war? In the heart of Ukraine and the Danube Delta, this is what the team behind 'Rewilding Ukraine' believes — betting on life itself to build the country of tomorrow.
THE PEACE AMBASSADORS
Erni and Ola Friholt, both 88, have spent their lives campaigning for disarmament, justice, and the environment. From marching to Moscow during the Cold War to running journals and hosting visitors at their café – where every pastry honored a peacemaker such as Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi – their activism has left its mark in countless ways. Set against the striking Bohuslän landscape, this heartwarming portrait captures their humor, love – and a conviction that change is always possible.
