Shine Global to award filmmakers a $2,500 cash prize and additional support; Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker RaMell Ross and Emmy® Award winner Stacey Reiss have joined the film as executive producers.

September 9, 2026 — 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

As the inaugural Shine Global Resilience Awards AmDoc Prize recipient, the filmmakers will receive a $2,500 cash prize from Shine Global, along with additional support from the nonprofit organization to help amplify the film and its impact.

“Short documentary is where some of the most inventive nonfiction work is happening, and it’s also the work that struggles most to find support,” said Opal H. Bennett, Executive Producer POV Shorts and Senior Producer, POV. “Helping to close that gap is the work American Documentary has done for almost 40 years, and POV Shorts is one of the series where we put it into practice — curating films like this one and standing behind the people who make them The Shine Global Resilience Award AmDoc Prize adds real resources to that, and The Boys and the Bees is a perfect first recipient. Arielle Knight and Sean Weiner have made a gem of a film we’ll be championing for a long time.”  

“Shine Global has always believed in the power of documentary storytelling to illuminate not only the challenges young people face, but their strength and agency,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “We are thrilled to partner with AmDoc, an institution that has championed independent filmmakers and nonfiction storytelling for nearly four decades, to create this new Resilience Awards Prize and help more exceptional films centering children to reach and move audiences.”

Blaney continued, “The Boys and the Bees is a beautiful choice for the inaugural award because its vision of resilience is both quiet and profound. Through Carver and Aaro’s experience of childhood, and Eliza and Nehemiah’s intentional work to build a family life connected to the land, the film shows resilience not simply as surviving adversity, but as creating a sense of belonging and love. We are honored to recognize the filmmakers and support this deeply moving story.”

The Boys and the Bees follows a year in the life of a Black family on a small farm in rural Georgia. Through a patient, verité lens, the film moves at the pace of two young boys, alive with curiosity, as they wander fields, tend hives, and grow in their relationship with the land around them. Their parents, Eliza and Nehemiah Ray—partners in life, parenthood, and beekeeping—set out to reimagine Black family life, rooting it in the wisdom of the natural world. As they work toward restoring their homestead, the film traces their quiet efforts to raise their sons, Carver, 6, and Aaro, 4, close to the land, transforming the rhythms of daily life into a tender meditation on childhood, inheritance, and legacy. From small, luminous moments—a frightened boy finding the courage to tend a beehive—a larger story unfolds: one of reparative healing and the deliberate work of building a family bound to the land. The Boys and the Bees is a tender yet radical portrait of self-determination, kinship, and love.

Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys, Hale County This Morning, This Evening) and Emmy® Award-winner Stacey Reiss (The Andy Warhol Diaries, The Eagle Huntress) have recently joined The Boys and the Bees as Executive Producers.

The partnership extends Shine Global’s Resilience Awards program, which recognizes exceptional storytelling about children and young people whose courage, creativity, and determination offer a fuller picture of what resilience can mean. Through the new collaboration with POV, Shine Global will provide the winning filmmakers with financial support as well as additional opportunities designed to extend the reach and impact of their work.

This partnership builds on a history of previous POV films and Shine Global’s Resilience Awards. In 2024, POV’s Name Me Lawand (Edward Lovelace) was named the Shine Global Resilience Awards Grand Prize winner, and in 2023, Aurora’s Sunrise (Inna Sahakyan) was a Grand Prize nominee.

About Shine Global

Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce and support inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. 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.

The Shine Global Resilience Awards recognize and celebrate the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. Past Resilience Award Grand Prize winners include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Jen Teixeira and Guy Mossman), Daughters (2024, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace and produced by Fleur Nieddu), Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen and produced by Mary Racine).  

About POV Shorts

POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. Known for its distinctive curation, the series has broadcast acclaimed titles including Emmy®-nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors and The Changing Same; Emmy® Award winner The Love Bugs; Academy Award® winner Days of Waiting; and Academy Award-shortlisted films A Broken House and Águilas.

The series won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2020, 2022 and 2023, with A Broken House receiving the award for Best Short in 2022. Series titles In the Absence, A Night at the Garden, 4.1 Miles, Joe’s Violin and Hardwood have all received Academy Award nominations.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia organization dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media. A catalyst for public culture, AmDoc develops collaborative engagement initiatives around socially relevant content across television, digital platforms and community settings—from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and civic participation.

AmDoc’s programming includes its multi-Emmy®, Academy Award® and Peabody Award-winning flagship series POV; the Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning POV Shorts; and America ReFramed. As part of its ongoing digital expansion, AmDoc is extending the reach of its work through expanded documentary programming on YouTube, connecting independent documentary storytelling with broader audiences and evolving how public media reaches viewers today. Follow @americandocumentary on social media.

Major funding for POV is provided by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Acton Family Giving, Park Foundation and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Acton Family Giving and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, GBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.

Documentary Celebrating a Young Filmmaker’s Imagination, Family and Community to Receive Top Honor at Shine Global’s Fearless for the Future Gala September 29 in New York City

September 2, 2026 — Shine Global, the Oscar® and Emmy® Award-winning nonprofit media company dedicated to improving children’s lives through the power of storytelling, announced today that 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.

“This is a film about the extraordinary power of storytelling, not only to express ourselves, but to bring people together,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Cynthia Lowen and Jon Cohrs give us an intimate and deeply thoughtful window into the joys and complexities of Oliver’s life while always allowing him to be at the center of his own story: funny, ambitious, creative, and completely himself. As Oliver sets out to make a movie, we see what is possible when children are given the support and freedom to pursue their ideas. KIDS LIKE ME is a celebration of the magic of movies, the strength of community, and the limitless imagination and resilience of young people. We are thrilled to honor it with this year’s Resilience Awards Grand Prize and to help extend its impact beyond the screen.”

“We made KIDS LIKE ME with the belief that every child should be supported in pursuing their dreams—and encouraged to dream big,” said directors Cynthia Lowen and Jon Cohrs. “As audiences cheer on Oliver and his family, we hope they leave the theater motivated to recognize and dismantle the barriers that often stand between young people and the futures they envision. We are profoundly honored to receive the 2026 Resilience Awards Grand Prize from Shine Global for KIDS LIKE ME. This recognition is a meaningful testament to the power of storytelling to shift perspectives, change lives and inspire action.

“We are also thrilled to partner with Shine Global and an extraordinary coalition of organizations and advocates on our impact campaign. Together, we hope to amplify the voices of young storytellers with disabilities while equipping families, caregivers and communities with the tools and resources they need to advance greater equity.

“We hope you’ll join us on this journey—a good mystery, a story of family, love and community, and a celebration of the limitless potential when children chase their dreams.”

Celebrating Children’s Resilience on Screen

Shine Global’s Resilience Awards recognize and support exceptional films that place children and young people at the center of the story and illuminate their strength and resilience. Through partnerships with film festivals and organizations, Shine Global awards prizes throughout the year, providing filmmakers with financial support, recognition, and opportunities to extend the reach and impact of their work.

In addition to Grand Prize winner KIDS LIKE ME, Shine Global’s 2026 Resilience Awards winners include:

• Remaining Native, directed by Paige Bethmann and produced by Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich — Unstoppable Kids Prize, New York International Children’s Film Festival
• Sūnna (Listen), directed by Radha Mehta — Disability Stories Award, ReelAbilities Film Festival
• One In A Million, directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes — Children’s Resilience Documentary Award, Sheffield DocFest
• Stalin Boys, directed by Bianca Giaever and Ora DeKornfeld — Children’s Resilience Short Documentary Award, Sheffield DocFest
• Edie Arnold Is a Loser, written by Megan Rico and directed by Megan Rico and Kade — Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award, Nantucket Film Festival
• The Butterfly, directed by Emily Ommerborn — Young Filmmakers Award, Montclair Film’s Emerging Filmmaker Competition
• JASON, directed by Gabriella Canal — Children’s Resilience Short Film Prize, Indy Shorts Film Festival
• One Day, directed by Yazmeen Kanji — Shine Global Resilience Awards NFMLA Prize, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles
• The Boys and the Bees, directed by Arielle Knight and produced by Sean Weiner — Shine Global Resilience Awards
• And a still be announced film at DOC NYC later this fall. 

The Resilience Awards are part of Shine Global’s broader commitment to identifying, supporting and amplifying stories that center children and young people, while helping films reach the audiences and communities that can turn powerful storytelling into meaningful change.

About KIDS LIKE ME

Meet 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—with a little help from his friends. The script is written, the cast is set, and Oliver is ready to call “action” on his most ambitious venture yet. What unfolds is more than a creative project—it’s a powerful testament to friendship, resilience and the magic that happens when a community comes together.

An intimate window into growing up with disabilities and the power of community, KIDS LIKE ME is a celebration of chasing your dreams and what is possible through support and a whole lot of love. Directors Cynthia Lowen (BATTLEGROUND) and Jon Cohrs (BACKWATER) craft a story that honors both Oliver’s remarkable vision and the realities his family navigates every day—revealing how creativity can transform challenges into connection.

Directed and Produced by Cynthia Lowen & Jon Cohrs 

In Association With LinLay Productions, Merino Films, ELECTRICK Labs 

Executive Producers Grace Lay, Cher Lee, Jim LeBrecht, Jonathan Logan, Alysa Nahmias, Meadow Fund, Resonance Philanthropies, Outlier Film Fund, Adora Cheung, Jason Goldman, Kat Mañalac, Megan Gelstein, Tony Shalhoub 

Co-Executive Producers Meredith Crowley, Jonathan Weiner, Nicole Page

Edited by Victoria Lesiw, ACE

Music by Mark Orton & John Hancock 

Cinematography by Jon Cohrs & Cynthia Lowen 

About Shine Global

Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce and support inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. 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.

The Shine Global Resilience Awards recognize and celebrate the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. Past Resilience Award Grand Prize winners include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Jen Teixeira and Guy Mossman), Daughters (2024, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace and produced by Fleur Nieddu), Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen and produced by Mary Racine).  

INDIANAPOLIS, July 25, 2026 — 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. 

“Jason moved us with its intimacy, restraint, and deep humanity. Through the perspective of a five-year-old boy, it reveals what happens after a parent is deported, not as an abstract political issue, but as a daily reality experienced by a child,” said Shine Global Co-CEO and Creative Director Alexandra Blaney.  “We see him playing and laughing, but also crying and missing his mother. Across the distance between them, their phone calls become a lifeline and a moving testament to the power of love. The film honors its young subject without defining him only by his hardship, allowing us to witness his joy, vulnerability, courage, and extraordinary resilience.”

“Months after his mother’s deportation, it was Jason’s everyday resilience and courage that inspired me to make this film,” said Director Gabriella Canal “And so it is incredibly rewarding for his story to be recognized with a Shine Global Resilience Award. I can’t think of a better way to honor him and his family, after all of the systemic obstacles and confusion they’ve had to face and overcome together during these times. It is both my hope, and Jason’s family’s hope, that his film reminds viewers that empathy and dignity, not fear, must shape how we understand each other.”

In addition, the short documentary Stalin Boys, directed by Bianca Giaever and Ora DeKornfeld, was awarded the Documentary Grand Prize, qualifying the film for Academy Award® consideration. Stalin Boys previously received Shine Global’s Children’s Resilience Award for Short Documentary at Sheffield DocFest.

Indy Shorts is an Academy Award®-Qualifying Film Festival in all three short film categories: Live Action, Documentary, and Animated. It has also been named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” and one of the “Best Short Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine.

The Children’s Resilience Short Film Prize collaboration between Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts and Shine Global began in 2023. Past winners include the short documentary Ayenda (2023), directed by Marie Margolius; the live-action short Unibrow (2024), directed by Nedda Sarshar; and the live-action short Rise (2025), directed by Jessica J. Rowlands.

This year, Shine Global featured seven finalist films in the Spotlight: Children’s Resilience program, highlighting the incredible resilience and unwavering spirit of children as they overcome challenges and find strength in unexpected places. In addition to JASON, the finalists included:

Where We Played: Voices From the Fire
In January 2025, devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles. Through firsthand interviews, children reflect on what they experienced, what they lost, what they carried with them, and how their lives have been forever changed; while simultaneously holding onto hope for what comes next.
Directors: Nat Wolff, Austin Cauldwell
Producers: Mina Sundwall, Eliza Paprin, Julia Pitch

Hatchlings
A resentful teenager is forced to babysit her turtle-obsessed half-brother as he dives into a vivid fantasy world where he is a sea turtle and she is a tortoise.
Writer/Director: Jahmil Eady
Producer: Tara Austin

Amazeze (Fleas)
Tonderai, a young Zimbabwean boy living in a South African township, watches as a xenophobic mob runs rampant through his neighbourhood. He watches over his gravely ill younger brother, who becomes desperate for drinking water.
Writer/Director:
Jordy Sank
Producers: Jordy Sank, Gabriella Blumberg

Finding Syn
When her older sister runs away, 10-year-old Skylah goes out into the streets determined to bring her home. As she wanders the city with only a photograph, “Finding Syn” becomes a story about resilience, longing, and finding the one you love.
Writer/Director: Sean-Josahi Brown
Producers: Sean-Josahi Brown, Erica Andrews

My Plastic Mother
Eki, living by the landfill, searches for a memento to honor his late mother. Battling the relentless rain, landslides, and looming threats from scavengers and machinery, he fears her memory could be lost beneath the waste forever.
Writer/Director: Amar Haikal
Producer: Michael Rainheart

Firewall
When her long-lost father mysteriously returns home, Ani is forced to confront her deepest fears as her life in Texas merges with ancient Persian mythology.
Writer/Director: Bita Ghassemi
Producers: Farzan Sewani, Jadah Burciaga, Jake King, Bita Ghassemi, Tiger Hill, Travis Ratcliff, Brody Carmichael, Naveed Mardi, Michael Zumaya, Amanda Morrison

About Shine Global

Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce and support inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. 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.

The Shine Global Resilience Awards recognize and celebrate the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. Past Resilience Award Grand Prize winners include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Jen Teixeira and Guy Mossman), Daughters (2024, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace and produced by Fleur Nieddu), Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen and produced by Mary Racine).  

About Heartland Film

Heartland Film is a nonprofit arts organization that runs the 11-day Heartland International Film Festival in October, the Academy Award®-Qualifying Indy Shorts Film Festival in July, the Truly Moving Picture Award and other year-round programs. Based in Indianapolis, Heartland Film was founded in 1991 with the mission to curate, promote and celebrate thoughtful and engaging films from diverse perspectives. Over the years, Heartland Film has presented $3.5 million in cash prizes – the largest total amount awarded by any film festival in North America – presented 200+ studio films with the Truly Moving Picture Award, and showcased more than 2,000 feature and short films, including 10 Oscar®-winning short film titles. MovieMaker Magazine named both the Indy Shorts and Heartland International Film Festival on the top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World list for 2026. The 9th Annual Indy Shorts Film Festival is scheduled July 21-26, 2026 and the 34th Heartland International Film Festival runs October 8-18, 2026. For more information, visit www.HeartlandFilm.org.

The new annual partnership recognizes filmmakers whose work highlights the resilience and strength of children and young people

July 2, 2026 — Shine Global and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) announced the launch of the Shine Global Resilience Award, a new annual partnership recognizing films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity.

The inaugural award was presented to One Day, written and directed by Yazmeen Kanji and produced by Maryam Remtulla, as part of the 14th Annual Best of NFMLA Awards. The honor includes a $2,500 cash prize along with ongoing support, amplification, and opportunities for audience engagement through Shine Global’s team and network.

Set in a suburb outside Toronto, One Day follows Adeela, an Indo-Caribbean Muslim teenager played by Ginny & Georgia’s Becky Ablack, who escapes into colorful daydreams as she searches for the confidence to express herself. Adeela imagines herself as the stylish, artistic, and justice-seeking young woman she wants to become, but she struggles to bring that confidence into her everyday life.

As Adeela decides whether or not to enter a photography contest, she must navigate the limiting expectations and microaggressions she encounters in the classroom. An outspoken classmate encourages her to stop hiding and embrace who she is. Over the course of one transformative day, Adeela discovers that the voice she has been searching for is already her own. Filled with bright colors, playful direct address, and imaginative sequences, One Day brings viewers inside Adeela’s inner world while capturing the courage it can take for a young person to be seen and heard.

“One Day is a joyful celebration of a girl learning to trust her own voice,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Adeela faces pressures that make her feel she must become smaller or quieter. But director Yazmeen Kanji creates a vibrant world that allows us to experience Adeela’s creativity and humor as well as the everyday challenges she faces. We are proud to recognize Yazmeen and the entire filmmaking team as the first recipients of the Shine Global Resilience Award with NFMLA.”

The partnership builds on Shine Global’s Resilience Awards initiative, which supports films and filmmakers telling stories about the strength, dignity, and power of children and young people. Through cash awards, screenings, professional support, and audience engagement, the initiative helps significant independent films reach wider audiences and extend their impact beyond the screen.

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles provides a platform for emerging and diverse filmmakers from around the world to share their work, connect with audiences, and develop relationships with entertainment industry professionals. The annual Best of NFMLA Awards recognize outstanding projects presented through the organization’s year-round programming.

The NFMLA Shine Global Resilience Award extends the two organizations’ shared commitment to supporting filmmakers whose work expands audiences’ understanding of young people’s experiences and celebrates their courage, creativity, and ability to shape their own futures.

About Shine Global

Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce and support inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. 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.

The Shine Global Resilience Awards recognize and celebrate the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. Past Resilience Award Grand Prize winners include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Jen Teixeira and Guy Mossman), Daughters (2024, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace and produced by Fleur Nieddu), Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen and produced by Mary Racine).  

About NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA)

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization that champions emerging and independent filmmakers and storytellers from around the world and provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized for their contributions, have open audience discussions about their work and connect with industry professionals for insight on distribution, production and representation.

In an effort to showcase, support, educate and build relationships for next-gen filmmakers, NFMLA has rapidly expanded beyond the NFMLA Monthly Film Festival to host an array of workshops, panels, competitions and networking programs, including the InFocus initiative which combats the lack of representation in media by celebrating underrepresented voices. Learn more at newfilmmakersla.com