Video
Documentaries and narrative short films from around the world.
The New Yorker Documentary
Deadlifting in Your Nineties, in “Strong Grandma”
An elderly powerlifter trains for competition, in Cecilia Brown and Winslow Crane-Murdoch’s short documentary.
March 26, 2025
The New Yorker Documentary
Short films that offer uncommon perspectives on pressing global issues. See more »
- The New Yorker Documentary
How an L.G.B.T.Q. Helpline Became a Lifeline
Volunteers for Switchboard reflect on the conversations they make with callers, whether reaching out from the depths of a crisis or looking for connection and advice. - The New Yorker Documentary
“The Last of the Nightingales” Tells the Story of How Soundscapes Change After a Fire
Masha Karpoukhina’s documentary follows a soundscape ecologist who lost everything in a California wildfire. - The New Yorker Documentary
A Young Girl Questions Wearing a Head Scarf in “Rizoo”
Azadeh Navai’s short film follows a rebellious girl who asks questions about when and why she needs to wear a hijab. - The New Yorker Documentary
One Conductor’s Mission to Diversify Music in “The Orchestra Chuck Built”
Christopher Stoudt’s film tells the story of a conductor leading the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and of the transformative power of music. - The New Yorker Documentary
A Ninety-Nine-Year-Old Lawyer’s Final Case in “Frank”
Frank Lucianna spent most of his life as a criminal-defense lawyer from New Jersey; even as he pushed a hundred, he didn’t wish to retire. - The New Yorker Documentary
“Goodbye, Morganza” Follows the Legacy of a Black Family’s Property Loss
Devon Blackwell’s short documentary explores how her great-grandparents lost the house they had owned since 1892, and the impact of that loss on generations of her family. - The New Yorker Documentary
Offering Dignity for Those Who Die Alone in “People Like Us”
Pedro Samper’s short film follows a woman who operates a cemetery in Colombia for people who die, mostly Venezuelan migrants, without anyone to see their burial. - The New Yorker Documentary
A Family Reckons with a Father’s Wish to Be Preserved Using Cryonics in “Eternal Father”
In Ömer Sami’s documentary short, a man’s wish to be cryogenically frozen after death raises questions for his wife and children. - The New Yorker Documentary
Telling the Story of Ethiopia’s Red Terror Through a Family Artifact
In Ruth Hunduma’s short documentary “The Medallion,” a mother’s memories serve as a window to a history of genocide and survival. - The New Yorker Documentary
A Veterinarian’s Soothing Compassion, in “The Passing”
The documentary short by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas follows Michael Mullen on his rounds attending to pets and their owners. - The New Yorker Documentary
A Public Defender’s Radical Approach to Representing the January 6th Rioters
Andrea Kalin’s documentary follows the work of a criminal-defense lawyer who strives to confront America’s political divisions with empathy. - The New Yorker Documentary
Zooey Zephyr’s Defense of Trans Lives in a Deep-Red State
A short documentary goes behind the scenes with the Montana state representative as she fights for trans medical care and makes a momentous decision in her own life. - The New Yorker Documentary
One Man’s Stand Against Donald Trump’s Election Denialism
After Trump claimed the 2020 Presidential election was “rigged,” a short documentary shows the effect of election conspiracies in the crucial jurisdiction of Maricopa County, Arizona, through the experience of one elected official. - The New Yorker Documentary
“Incident” Shows How Officers React When a Police Killing Is Caught on Tape
A collection of surveillance and body-camera footage offers a raw look at the 2018 shooting of Harith Augustus, and at the immediate attempts to shape the story. - The New Yorker Documentary
Friendship and Hard Work Amid Italy’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, in “Fratelli Carbonai”
A young man from Mali carves out a life for himself in an ancient trade in the Calabrian mountains, when the nation’s politics take a hard right turn.
The Screening Room
Fictional short films that spark curiosity. See more »
- Screening Room
The Maddening Disconnect of Phone Therapy in “Happy to Help You,” featuring Amy Sedaris
Jeremy Beiler’s short film follows a mental-health volunteer’s unravelling after a caller gets under his skin. - Screening Room
A Woman Wonders if She’s Human in “I’m Not a Robot”
In Victoria Warmerdam’s short film, a series of failed CAPTCHA tests plunges a woman into a strange new reality. - Screening Room
A Relationship and a Nation in Turmoil in “Bogotá Story”
Esteban Pedraza’s short film examines the strain a young woman endures when she has to choose between her dreams and her family. - Screening Room
A Life-or-Death Decision Among Friends, in “Hamster”
A tragic accident turns a lighthearted gathering into a moral quandary for a young Iranian couple. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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.” - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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.
More Videos
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The New Yorker Documentary
An Intimate Cartography of Costa Rica in “Direcciones”
In María Luisa Santos and Carlo Nasisse’s short film, addresses suggest an alternative understanding of space and time.
The New Yorker Documentary
Revisiting New York’s Historic Abortion Law in “Deciding Vote”
Jeremy Workman and Robert Lyons’s film reconstructs the passage of a 1970 law that made the state a sanctuary for people seeking abortions, and cost a lawmaker his career.