TRANSFORMING CHILDREN’S LIVES

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.

Shine Global is proud to announce that student filmmaker Emily Ommerborn from Middletown High School South has been awarded the 2026 Shine Global Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers for her film The Butterfly as part of Montclair Film’s Emerging Filmmaker Competition (EFC). 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, in partnership with ReelAbilities Film Festival, is proud to announce the live action short film Sūnna, written and directed by Radha Mehta, as the recipient of this year’s Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award, which includes a $2,000 honorarium. The award recognizes films that highlight the resilience and strength of children with disabilities, uplifting stories that challenge stigma and expand understanding.

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

Remaining Native, directed by Paige Bethmann, has been awarded the 2026 Unstoppable Kids Prize at the New York International Children’s Film Festival as part of Shine Global’s Resilience Awards. The documentary follows Native American teen Ku Stevens as he pursues collegiate running while honoring his great-grandfather’s escape from the Stewart Indian School. The film highlights Indigenous resilience, intergenerational healing, and youth leadership.

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.