The Cinema Eye Shorts List – Program 3 – Buckskin, A Derailment, Water Cooler, They’re Here

Sat, Dec 5

Sat, Dec 5

7:15 pm

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Run Time: 80 min. Format: Digital Release Year: 2026

Join Vidiots and the Cinema Eye Honors for a full day of incredible documentary shorts – from the mind-blowing and groundbreaking to the heartbreaking and vital, don’t miss your chance to see all the best nonfiction short films of the year in one glorious day! The Cinema Eye Shorts List, is a celebration of the top short documentaries of 2026. Each year, Cinema Eye announces ten semi-finalists for their Nonfiction Short Film Honor. From this list of 10, six films will be announced in December as the final nominees for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking and the winner will be announced at the 20th Annual Cinema Eye Honors in January.

Featuring:

Buckskin

Directed by Mars Verrone | 17 mins

An experimental portrait of the filmmaker’s grandfather: Carroll B. Williams Jr., a ground-breaking African-American forester, reflecting on his work and legacy in the twilight of his life.

A Derailment

Directed by Nathan Truesdell | 26 mins

At 8:55pm on February 3, 2023, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Told entirely through found footage and news archive, A Derailment puts you in the center of disaster.

Water Cooler

Directed by Emma V.F. | 12 mins
The Trump administration has turned immigration courts into deportation traps. As ICE agents wait to arrest their targets outside of courtrooms, their banal conversations clash with the severity of their actions. Emma V.F. filmed this observational short doc in New York’s Federal Plaza from November 2025 through January 2026.

They’re Here

Directed by Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller | 25 mins
They’re Here is a horror film that follows Edén Villa (a pseudonym) and anonymous Minneapolis residents as they evade and resist the paramilitary occupation of their city.

Cinema Eye Honors was founded in 2007 on three ideals: creating events to support and build community amongst those who make documentary films; recognizing the entire creative team of craftspersons that create these films; and recognizing excellence, innovation and boldness in the artistry of nonfiction filmmaking.

Cinema Eye was the first and remains the only international nonfiction award to recognize the whole creative team, presenting annual craft awards in directing, editing, producing, cinematography, original score, visual design and sound design. Cinema Eye presents and produces the annual Cinema Eye Week and Honors Awards Ceremony.

The 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.

Cinema Eye is led by a core team of filmmakers and programmers who are committed to the organization’s mission.

Community Partners Groundbreaking Non-Fiction In the MUBI Microcinema