Kids Like Me Wins Shine Global’s 2026 Resilience Awards Grand Prize
KIDS LIKE ME, directed by Cynthia Lowen and Jon Cohrs, is the winner of the 2026 Shine Global Resilience Awards Grand Prize. The award will be presented at Shine Global’s annual Fearless for the Future Gala on September 29, 2026, in New York City, where the organization will celebrate KIDS LIKE ME alongside filmmakers and young people whose stories exemplify resilience, creativity and the power of children to shape their own futures.
KIDS LIKE ME, which premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, introduces audiences to Oliver, a 12-year-old murder-mystery enthusiast with a vivid imagination and a rare genetic condition. Inspired by his love of the genre, Oliver sets out to bring his own mystery to the big screen. As Oliver, his family, and his community work together to make his movie, KIDS LIKE ME becomes an intimate portrait of friendship, family, and growing up with disabilities, while celebrating what can happen when a young person’s imagination is met with encouragement and support.
Shine Global and American Documentary Announce New Resilience Award Partnership, Naming The Boys and the Bees as Inaugural Winner
Shine Global and American Documentary (AmDoc), the nonprofit organization behind America ReFramed, POV Shorts, and POV, American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, today announced a new partnership to recognize a POV Shorts film with the Shine Global Resilience Awards AmDoc Prize, an honor celebrating powerful documentary storytelling centered on the resilience and strength of children and families.
The inaugural award will go to the recently acquired POV Shorts film, The Boys and the Bees, directed by Arielle Knight and produced by Sean Weiner. The short documentary is an intimate portrait of a Black family on a small farm in rural Georgia, sharing their love of nature and beekeeping while restoring their homestead. The film won the Oscar®-qualifying Short Film Jury Award: Non-Fiction at the Sundance Film Festival in January among several other awards and will be available to audiences as part of POV Shorts upcoming ninth season in November
Jason Wins Shine Global’s 2026 Children’s Resilience Short Film Prize at Indy Shorts; Stalin Boys Wins Academy Award®-Qualifying Documentary Grand Prize
Shine Global is proud to announce that Jason, directed and produced by Gabriella Canal, has won the Shine Global Children’s Resilience Short Film Prize at the 2026 Indy Shorts Film Festival, one of the world’s leading short film festivals, presented by Heartland Film. The short documentary, which made its world premiere at Indy Shorts, follows a young boy in Miami as he goes about his daily life while the voice of his recently deported mother travels through the phone to reach him.
One In a Million wins Shine Global’s 2026 Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary at Sheffield DocFest; Stalin Boys wins Award for Short Doc
Shine Global awards One In a Million, directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes, the Shine Global Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary at the 2026 Sheffield DocFest and Stalin Boys, directed by Bianca Giaever and Ora DeKornfeld, the award for Children’s Resilience Award for Short Documentary.
Comedy Against the Odds Now Streaming Free on Doc+ for World Autism Awareness Day
In honor of World Autism Awareness Day (April 2) and the start of Autism Awareness Month, Shine Global is proud to announce that our award-winning short documentary Comedy Against the Odds is now available to stream for free on Doc+.
👉 Watch the film: https://docplus.com/videos/comedy-against-the-odds
Shine Global at the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour
Co-CEO’s Alexandra Blaney and Francile Mullen were proud to represent Shine Global at the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, held in Marrakech, Morocco with a screening of Anuja and moderating a CSO Forum with global child labor leaders.
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About Us
Shine Global is a non-profit media company. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children and their families. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.
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Shine Global aims to harness the power of documentary film as a dynamic force for positive change by creating a full outreach and engagement campaign for each of our films.
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Our Latest Films
Shine Global’s mission is to improve the lives of children by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.
The Business of Trouble
In The Business of Trouble, survivors, a former caregiver, and an investigator reveal systemic abuse and demand accountability from the private equity companies behind the multibillion-dollar Troubled Teen Industry that exploits vulnerable youth under the guise of care.
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Comedy Against the Odds
10-year-old Austin has Autism. He’s also an aspiring stand-up comic. This short documentary spotlights the struggle of growing up with labels, and how Austin uses comedy to embrace and overcome them. More Info
Anuja
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a garment factory in Delhi, India gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister’s future. This Oscar-nominated live-action short film is available to watch on Netflix. More Info
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- Shine Global and American Documentary Announce New Resilience Award Partnership, Naming The Boys and the Bees as Inaugural Winner
- Kids Like Me Wins Shine Global’s 2026 Resilience Awards Grand Prize
- Meet our Summer 2026 Interns
- https://shineglobal.org/2026/08/04/tickets-on-sale-for-shine-globals-fearless-for-the-future-gala-sept-29-2026/
- Jason Wins Shine Global’s 2026 Children’s Resilience Short Film Prize at Indy Shorts; Stalin Boys Wins Academy Award®-Qualifying Documentary Grand Prize