Shine Global improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories
that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.

 

DJ Ahmet Receives Shine Global Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award at 2025 Nantucket Film Festival

Nantucket Film Festival and Shine Global announced that the feature film DJ Ahmet has been honored with the Shine Global Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award.

Written and directed by ​​Georgi M. Unkovski, the film follows Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, who finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.

Shine Global’s The Business of Trouble to Premiere at Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2025

Shine Global is thrilled to announce our latest film The Business of Trouble will have its world premiere at the 2025 Indy Shorts International Film Festival as well as share the seven finalist short films in the Spotlight: Children’s Resilience program that are eligible for the Shine Global Children’s Resilience in Short Film Prize.

Comparsa wins Shine Global’s 2025 Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary at Sheffield DocFest

Shine Global is proud to announce Comparsa as the 2025 winner of the Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary, in partnership with Sheffield DocFest, the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects.

Making its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest and directed by Vickie Curtis and Doug AndersonComparsa is a stirring portrait of two teen sisters in Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala who, in the wake of their friends murder and a backdrop of unchecked violence against women and girls, stage a carnival street parade and public performance as a protest. Through their courageous, art-driven resistance, they fight for the safety and freedom of women and girls and a new way for their community to come together.

Shine Global and Montclair Film Festival Announce 2025 Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers Winner In Case You Forgot

Shine Global is proud to announce that student filmmakers Jackson Provan and Henry Slater have been awarded the 2025 Shine Global Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers for their film In Case You Forgot, as part of Montclair Film’s Emerging Filmmaker Competition. The competition celebrates the work of filmmakers in 6th through 12th grades, recognizing a wide range of styles and voices that showcase the diverse talents of young people using cinema to tell their stories.

Shine Global Joins 100 Organizations in Letter Decrying Cuts to ILAB Grants to Address Child Labor and Forced Labor

Shine Global has joined more than 100 civil society organizations to call on the US Department of Labor to continue fighting forced labor and child labor. Recent cuts of $500 million in funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), whose federally-funded programs play a critical role in fighting forced labor and child labor globally, undermines U.S. leadership, eviscerates protections for vulnerable workers, and hobbles the fight against exploitation.

Anuja Nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short

Shine Global is thrilled to share that Anuja has been nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 97th Academy Awards.

Anuja, crafted by husband-and-wife team Adam J. Graves (writer/director) and Suchitra Mattai (producer), tells a stirring tale of two sisters struggling to find joy and opportunity in a world intent on their exploitation and exclusion. This powerful short follows Anuja, a precocious nine-year-old orphan who works in a back-alley garment factory alongside her older sister Palak, when she is suddenly faced with a rare opportunity that will determine the fate of her future and family. The film can soon be seen worldwide on Netflix.

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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​.

Home is Somwhere Else

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