Op-Docs

The Oscar-winning series of short documentaries by independent filmmakers.

Highlights

Instruments of a Beating Heart
A look into the Japanese educational system’s delicate balance between teamwork, discipline and personal growth.
By Ema Ryan Yamazaki
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1. más y más y más flores
  During the Day of the Dead, the cempasúchil, or marigold, is believed to guide spirits back home. In Mexico City, people who lost a loved one to Covid use the flower to honor their dead.
  By César Martínez Barba
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2. The Final Chapter
  How do you cope when an abusive family member becomes terminally ill?
  By Frøydis Fossli Moe
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3. Modern Goose
  There’s a natural world trapped within our cities.
  By Karsten Wall
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What a School Performance Shows Us About Japanese Education
A look into the Japanese educational system’s delicate balancing of teamwork, discipline and personal growth.
By Ema Ryan Yamazaki
For Day of the Dead, a Burst of Flowers to Honor the Departed
During the Day of the Dead, the cempasúchil, or marigold, is believed to guide spirits back home. In Mexico City, people who lost a loved one to Covid use the flower to honor their dead.
By César Martínez Barba
Leer en español
How Do You Say Goodbye to an Abusive Family Member?
How do you cope when an abusive family member becomes terminally ill?
By Frøydis Fossli Moe
Get to Know the Misunderstood Canada Goose
There’s a natural world trapped within our cities.
By Karsten Wall
‘That’s What I Would Have Liked, to Live in a Wild Sea’
An 86-year-old woman’s decision to end her life raises complex questions about life and death for a filmmaker.
By Guillermo F. Flórez
Four Women Share Their Experiences in the Sex Trade: ‘I Don’t Want to Be in This Forever.’
In this animated short film, women who work in the sex trade in Wales anonymously share their experiences.
By John Robert Lee
How the Ocean Is Liberating for One of South Africa’s Best Surfers
Michael February, a boundary-breaking surfer and the first Black South African on the World Surf League Championship Tour, embarks on a transformative journey.
By Sandra Winther and Michael February
Tennessee Abortion Clinic Workers Speak Out About the State’s Near-Total Ban
In Memphis, a doctor and a volunteer driver contemplate the discontinuation of abortion services at a women’s health clinic two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
By Lynne Sachs
I Asked A.I. Where It Thought I Was From. Its Answer: Nowhere.
In this short film, the visual artist Nouf Aljowaysir examines a question she’s struggled with since childhood.
By Nouf Aljowaysir
In 1974, Two Film Students Rowed to Ellis Island. Here’s What They Captured.
In the early 1970s, two high school filmmakers ventured out in a rowboat to make a 16 mm film about an abandoned space nearby: Ellis Island.
By Phil Buehler and Steve Siegel