Shorts Block: Documentary

A showcase of some of the most exciting and thought-provoking documentary short films from around the world featuring stories from established filmmakers and new emerging talent.

THE BLUE HOUSE
World Premiere | Directed by Eric Rothman
USA | 5 minutes | 2025

A family connection is revealed through the shared affection for a cherished breakfast dish.

THE CAVE SYNAGOGUE
Southeast US Premiere | Directed by Peter Decherney
Uganda | 8 minutes | 2024

Uganda Abayudaya (Jewish) elder J.J. Keki and his sons hike and sing their way to the cave synagogue where Jews prayed secretly during dictator Idi Amin’s reign.

CONCRETE
US Premiere | Directed by Tal Inbar
Israel | 12 minutes | 2024

A poetic documentary that contrasts Israel's modern tower neighborhoods with the encroaching concrete threatening the delicate harmony between urbanization and nature.

DAYLIGHT FOLLOWS
North American Premiere | Directed by Geoff Brooks
UK | 20 minutes | 2024

An American soldier and a Czechoslovakian boy, whose lives collide during the liberation of Buchenwald amidst the horrors of World War II, forge a lifelong friendship.

DAYS BETWEEN REST
World Premiere | Directed by Peter Decherney
Uganda | 12 minutes | 2025

Rachel Namudosi, a third-generation Jewish Ugandan and Grammy-nominated singer, navigates her vibrant life of family, music, and faith, while also sharing her journey through adversity, community resilience, and the Abayudaya’s connection to Israel.

THE GUY WHO GOT CUT WRONG
Southeast US Premiere | Directed by Dana Ben-Ari
USA | 21 minutes | 2024

Bestselling novelist Gary Shteyngart reflects on the trauma of his botched childhood circumcision, exploring themes of immigration, masculinity, and resilience with his signature tragic-comic voice.

HOLDING ON
World Premiere | Directed by Ira Wohl
USA | 25 minutes | 2025

Acclaimed documentarian Ira Wohl explores the struggle for survival of Greenwood, Mississippi's last remaining Orthodox Jewish community, once a thriving center in the "cotton capital of the world." Against the backdrop of modern migration to larger cities and the growing pressures of cultural and religious assimilation, the film presents the stories of key community members, offering an engaging blend of humor, poignancy, and Southern charm.

IN SOLIDARITY
Florida Premiere | Directed by Tyler Jones
USA | 15 minutes | 2024

On April 28, 1958, a bomb found at Temple Beth El in Birmingham, Alabama, during a wave of attacks on Southern Jewish institutions, failed to detonate, leaving a lasting impact on the community's approach to allyship and justice amidst the Civil Rights Movement—lessons that resonate in today's fight against rising antisemitism and racism.

LESLIE
Southeast US Premiere | Directed by Lisa Leslie Dodell
USA | 12 minutes | 2024

Filmmaker Lisa Dodell explores her relationship with the grandfather she never met, and invents a new way to meet him post-mortem.

MAHJONG & MAHASHAS
Southeast US Premiere | Directed by Carolyn Saul
USA | 12 minutes | 2024

This vibrant archival exploration of a family’s culture blends the clatter of mahjong tiles, the aroma of Middle Eastern spices, and the rich traditions of Sydney’s Singaporean Sephardic community.

MY BACK PAGES
Southeast US Premiere | Directed by Nick Canfield
USA | 10 minutes | 2024

A chronicle of Mitch Blank, the world’s foremost Bob Dylan collector, as he donates his life's work to the Bob Dylan Center, exploring the nature of collecting and the profound act of letting go.