BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Skye Fitzgerald

40 min | 2020 | US/Yemen | World Premiere

Nominated for a 2021 Oscar, HUNGER WARD is the third film in the Refugee Trilogy by 2x Oscar & Emmy nominated director Skye Fitzgerald. Filmed from inside two of the most active therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, HUNGER WARD documents two women health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war. The film provides an unflinching portrait of Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and Nurse Mekkia Mahdi as they work to save the lives of hunger-stricken children within a population on the brink of famine. With unprecedented access within a sensitive conflict-zone, HUNGER WARD reveals a world of bravery and commitment-to-care for war-stricken children amidst desperate need.

Official Selections: LA Shorts Int’l Film FF, Melbourne Doc FF, Sebastopol Doc FF CA, BraveMaker FF, CA, Doc Edge FF/ Auckland, New Zealand, Mountainfilm/Telluride, CO, Luminous Frames/Arena Midt, Denmark, One World/Prague, Czech Republic, Carmarthen Bay/Llandello, UK, Minneapolis-St. Paul Int'l/ Minneapolis, MN, IRC Refugee FF/San Diego, CA, Malibu Int’l FF/Malibu, CA, Human Rights FF/Berlin, Germany, Portland Int’l FF/Portland, OR, HUMAN Int’l Doc F/Oslo, Norway, DOC NYC/ Virtual Festival/ New York, HollyShorts/Virtual Festival/Los Angeles, CA.

CELLMATE

Behzad Khodaveisi

12 min | 2019 | Iran | US Premiere

An innocent, naïve girl’s youth is stolen in marriage. CELLMATE is meant to highlight the 12 million young girls that are married off before the age of 18.