Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Vidiots, Los Angeles
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: **Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon** Directed by Bill Morrison | 18 mins When masked US Border Patrol agents arrest a man in Chicago without a warrant, his neighbors attempt to prevent them from leaving their block. **La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave)** Directed by Cristina Costantini | 23 mins During a summer of grief and fear brought on by immigration raids in Los Angeles, one small act of bravery gives a community hope. **Free Joan Little** Directed by Yoruba Richen | 35 mins *Free Joan Little* recounts the groundbreaking 1975 case of a young Black woman in eastern North Carolina who killed a white jailer after he attempted to rape her. Case drew international attention and catalyzed a conversation about the intersection of sexual assault, racial justice, and prisoners’ rights that has reverberations to this day. **[Cinema Eye Honors](https://cinemaeyehonors.com/about/)** 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.