Cinema Eye Shorts – Program 1
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Run Time: 110 min. Format: Digital
Discover the best of this year’s nonfiction short films with Cinema Eye and Vidiots.
Including a conversation with filmmakers Molly O’Brien, Lisa Remington, and Will McCormick
A Swim Lesson
Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack / POV / 21 min
A Swim Lesson is an ode to an everyday hero: Bill Marsh, a swim teacher who helps children manage their fears and discover their own power when submerged in an overwhelming unknown. He has taught thousands of kids and their families to instill confidence and safety in their lives.
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
Directed by Julio Palacio / Netflix / 23 min
Makayla, a teenage girl, who has spent her life grappling with a rare form of autism that rendered her essentially nonverbal until her parents, filled with unwavering belief in their daughter’s potential, embarked on a transformative journey to discover the true depth of Makayla’s inner world.
Instruments of a Beating Heart
Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki / NY Times Op-Docs / 23 min
First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge: to perform “Ode to Joy” at a school ceremony. Their journey reveals the Japanese educational system’s tenuous balance between self-sacrifice and personal growth as it teaches the next generation to become part of society.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Directed by Molly O’Brien / Netflix / 34 min
Trailblazing double bassist Orin O’Brien was never one to seek the spotlight, but when Leonard Bernstein hired her in 1966 as the first female musician in the New York Philharmonic, she inevitably became the focus of media attention and, ultimately, one of the most renowned musicians of a generation.
About Cinema Eye Honors:
Cinema Eye Honors recognize feature and short-length films and series with an emphasis on nonfiction work that is designed for public distribution, whether primarily theatrical, festival, broadcast or streaming. Cinema Eye seeks to encourage audiences to engage with nonfiction work that crosses all genres, whether observational, journalistic, activist, essayistic, light-hearted or provocative as well as those exciting works that blur the lines between nonfiction and fiction. Since its founding, Cinema Eye has sought to change the conversation that film critics, festivals and awards bodies have surrounding documentary film, shifting the emphasis from importance of topic to artistic craft.