June 15, 2026, Sheffield, UK – Shine Global is proud to announce that One In a Million, directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes, has won the Shine Global Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary at the 2026 Sheffield DocFest, the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects. In addition, the short documentary Stalin Boys, directed by Bianca Giaever and Ora DeKornfeld, has been awarded the Children’s Resilience Award for Short Documentary.

The Shine Global Children’s Resilience Awards for Documentary recognize films that celebrate the strength and power of children in the face of adversity. Presented for the second year in partnership with Sheffield DocFest, the award honors documentary storytelling that expands understanding of children’s experiences around the world and the courage they show in confronting extraordinary challenges.

Filmed over the course of ten years, One In a Million follows 11-year-old Isra’a and her family as they flee war in Syria and attempt to rebuild their lives in Germany. As they navigate war, exile, displacement, and belonging, viewers see the long term costs of displacement and the complexities of the refugee experience.

“One In a Million is an incredible feat of documentary filmmaking,”said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Through Isra’a’s decade-long journey, the film allows us to look beyond headlines and statistics and witness the long-term emotional realities of displacement. We are honored to recognize Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, and the entire filmmaking team for a work that so powerfully reflects the spirit of the Children’s Resilience Award.”

One In a Million made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it won both the Directing Award and Audience Award in the World Documentary Competition. The film is directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes and produced by Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer, and Raney Aronson-Rath. Production companies: Frontline Features, BBC Storyville and KEO Films in association with Placeholder Films, New Lane Media, Impact Partners.

In the charming short documentary Stalin Boys, four middle school boys in a tiny Texas border town channel an unlikely obsession with Joseph Stalin into a history fair play about tyranny. Filmed in Marathon, Texas where the middle school has just 11 students, the film adroitly balances humor against the serious subject matter, as the boys explore their thoughts about bullying and their own power. The film is produced by Alejandra Vasquez, Sam Osborn, Ora DeKornfeld, and Bianca Giaever with New York Times OpDocs, and previously won both an audience award and a special jury award at SxSW.

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ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL
Shine Global is a non-profit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce 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.

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance, and an Academy Award®-nomination for Anuja. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds. For more information about Shine Global, visit shineglobal.org.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

The Shine Global Resilience Awards were created to honor films that highlight the strength, dignity, and power of children in the face of adversity. Past winners of Shine Global Resilience Awards include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Directed by Guy Mossman and Jennifer Tiexiera), Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace), and Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short Rise (2025, Directed by Jessica J. Rowlands), the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Okthanksbye (2023, Nicole Van Kilsdok) with ReelAbilities Film Festival, Savauges (2024, directed by Claude Barras), and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

ABOUT SHEFFIELD DOCFEST
Sheffield DocFest is the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects. We champion and present the breadth of documentary form – film, television, podcast, immersive and art – in the vibrant city of Sheffield each June. We offer makers and audiences a place for inspiration, debate, development, learning and challenge. Our programming represents our core values – creativity, empathy, freedom, inclusivity and internationalism. https://www.sheffdocfest.com/

Emily Ommerborn from Middletown High School South is awarded the 2026 Shine Global Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers by Shine Global Board of Directors member Art Hatzopoulos for her film The Butterfly as part of Montclair Film’s Emerging Filmmaker Competition (EFC) – June 7, 2026.

June 7, 2026, Montclair, NJ – 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. 

In “The Butterfly,” which also won Gold in the Experimental Category, a girl struggles to feel at peace with herself, comparing her feelings to butterflies.

“Through poetic imagery and surrealist filmmaking, The Butterfly captures the experience of anxiety and the struggle to feel at peace with yourself. It transforms a familiar feeling into a visual and powerful mood, using the butterfly as a symbol of both vulnerability and freedom,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global.  “We’re happy to continue our partnership with Montclair Film to support students as they explore resilience through filmmaking.”

Montclair Film’s EFC Grand Prize was awarded to Levi Walker Marsh of High Tech High School for their film What Comes Through. Both the Grand Prize winner and the Resilience Award teams will each receive a cash prize of $500.

“We are honored to once again partner with Shine Global in championing young artists as they explore the power of filmmaking,” said Montclair Film Education Program Director Sue Hollenberg. “These young filmmakers are telling stories that are personal, urgent, and inspiring, and we’re excited to help amplify their voices.”

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. In the five years since the Resilience Awards launched, Shine Global has supported 43+ films and 7 film festivals and organizations, providing over $100,000 in direct cash support in addition to in-kind services and support. The awards are open to films of any genre that showcase children overcoming challenges and demonstrate their resilience, courage, and determination. Past 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).  

Watch The Butterfly:

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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.

Since our founding in 2005 by Susan MacLaury and Albie Hecht, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente, an Academy Award® nomination for Best Live Action Short for Anuja, and an Academy Award® nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

The Shine Global Resilience Awards were created to honor films that highlight the strength, dignity, and power of children in the face of adversity. Past winners of Shine Global Resilience Awards include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Directed by Guy Mossman and Jennifer Tiexiera), Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace), and Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short Rise (2025, Directed by Jessica J. Rowlands), the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Okthanksbye (2023, Nicole Van Kilsdok) with ReelAbilities Film Festival, Savauges (2024, directed by Claude Barras), and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

About Montclair Film

Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization connects filmmakers from around the region and world with audiences by presenting films and year-round programs that engage, educate, and entertain through the power of visual storytelling. The twelfth Annual Montclair Film Festival will take place from October 16-25, 2026. For more information about Montclair Film, visit www.MontclairFilm.org.

May 1, 2026, New York, NY – 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.

Sūnna (which means “listen” in Hindi) tells the story of Lakshmi, a young girl musician whose sudden hearing loss shatters her sense of identity. Through memory, touch, and cultural connection, she begins to reclaim both her music and herself.

Director Radha Mehta is a civil engineer-turned-filmmaker. With an MFA in Film Directing from the American Film Institute, she is also a Disability Belongs Entertainment Fellow, a BIPOC Deaf Arts Grant recipient, a voting member of The Recording Academy, and a recipient of the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge from CAPE. Drawing from her lived experience as a South Asian, first-generation mother who is hard-of-hearing, Mehta’s work explores motherhood, women’s empowerment, and the dismantling of cultural taboos surrounding mental health and disability.

“Young Lakshmi’s world is rooted in music. It shapes how she connects with her family, her culture, and her sense of self. What’s so powerful about Sūnna is that when she begins to lose her hearing, the film doesn’t frame it as a tragedy or an ending. Instead, we watch her discover new ways to experience and stay connected to music on her own terms. It becomes a story of creativity and resilience,”  said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Writer/Director Radha Mehta brings this journey to life with such care and originality. The filmmaking is immersive and deeply intentional, inviting us into Lakshmi’s sensory experience in a way that feels both intimate and expansive. It is a beautiful, affirming portrait of resilience that celebrates possibility and transformation. We are honored to recognize this film through our Resilience Awards program in partnership with ReelAbilities.”

The Resilience Awards program continues Shine Global’s commitment to supporting filmmakers who center the experiences of children and young people facing adversity, and to amplifying stories that inspire empathy, action, and change.

Sūnna Film Team:

Writer & Director: Radha Mehta
Producer: Pallavi Sastry
Cinematographer: Isue Shin
Production Designer: Suneha Balasubramanya
Editor: Joseph Murphy
Executive Producers: Michelle K. Sugihara, Janet Yang, Julia S. Gouw, Radha Mehta, Satish Brahme, Samudrika Arora
Music by: Dhruv Goel

Key Cast:
Anisha Nagarajan as Savita
Aaliya Mehta as Lakshmi
Behzad Dabu as Bipin
Alyssa Diaz as Selma Michaels, Au.D.

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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.

Since our founding in 2005 by Susan MacLaury and Albie Hecht, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente, an Academy Award® nomination for Best Live Action Short for Anuja, and an Academy Award® nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

The Shine Global Resilience Awards were created to honor films that highlight the strength, dignity, and power of children in the face of adversity. Past winners of Shine Global Resilience Awards include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Directed by Guy Mossman and Jennifer Tiexiera), Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace), and Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short Rise (2025, Directed by Jessica J. Rowlands), the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Okthanksbye (2023, Nicole Van Kilsdok) with ReelAbilities Film Festival, Savauges (2024, directed by Claude Barras), and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

About ReelAbilities

ReelAbilities celebrates disability, inclusion and accessibility through wide-ranging international films, riveting conversations, professional workshops and other forms of visual and performing arts. Founded in NY in 2007, ReelAbilities presents the largest festival in the world dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. With a flagship festival in New York, affiliate festivals throughout North America, an online streaming platform, industry summit, educational programs and more, ReelAbilities brings the community together to explore, discuss, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience, and is a leader in setting the highest standards of accessibility and inclusion in the film industry.

About ReelAbilities Industry Summit
DISABILITY INCLUSION AND EQUITY IN FILM + PERFORMING ARTS
Hosted in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office for Media and Entertainment, Reelabilities´ industry Summit gathers industry professionals to explore and discuss topics of accessibility, inclusion and representation in all aspects of the film and performing arts industries, and explore beyond the basics into progressive best practices.

March 19, 2026, New York, NY – Shine Global is proud to announce Remaining Native, directed and produced by Paige Bethmann and produced by Judd Ehrlich and Jessica Epstein, as the recipient of this year’s Unstoppable Kids Prize at the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF). This annual cash award given in partnership with NYICFF since 2024, recognizes a film that highlights the resilience, courage, and determination of young people facing adversity.

Remaining Native follows 17-year-old Native American runner Ku Stevens as he pursues his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete while grappling with his heritage and the legacy of his great-grandfather’s escape from the Stewart Indian School. As an 8-year-old child, Ku’s great-grandfather ran away from the boarding school three separate times before ultimately securing his freedom. In retracing that 50-mile journey decades later, Ku discovers how running can carry memory, resistance, and hope across generations.

A quiet yet deeply powerful documentary, Remaining Native reveals how running becomes both a personal aspiration and an act of remembrance and connection. For Ku, the discipline and solitude of long-distance running symbolize determination and possibility. For his great-grandfather, running was survival. The film’s most poignant moments invite viewers into a reflective space that deepens our understanding of resilience.

“Remaining Native embodies the very spirit of the Unstoppable Kids Prize,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Not only is Ku literally unstoppable in his races, but over the course of the film we watch him wrestle with the deeper conflict between his desire to leave home as he pursues his dreams while also honoring the legacy of those who came before him. Ultimately, he discovers a new path forward for himself and his community. His journey shows us that resilience can be quiet and leadership can be deeply introspective.”

Throughout the film, Ku emerges as both intensely thoughtful and a natural leader. While focused on earning a place at a college running program, he also reveals a deeper calling: preserving his ancestors’ legacy and ensuring that the stories of Native children who endured Indian boarding schools are neither forgotten nor silenced.

The impact campaign for Remaining Native extends beyond the screen. Screenings of the film are designed to create trauma-informed spaces for dialogue around the history and ongoing legacy of Indian Boarding Schools. The campaign builds reciprocal partnerships with Indigenous communities, supports Native youth-led initiatives for generational healing and community-building, and advances educational efforts that shift narratives through an Indigenous lens—centering Native students and lived experiences in curriculum development.

Central to the campaign is the annual Remembrance Run. In 2021, following the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada, Ku and his family organized the first Remembrance Run to retrace the 50-mile escape his great-grandfather made from the Stewart Indian School. What began as a community act of remembrance drew over one hundred participants from across the country.

The Remembrance Run continued in 2022 and 2023, with Ku undertaking the journey solo in 2024 and 2025. In collaboration with Remaining Native’s Impact Campaign, the Stevens family will host the 2026 Remembrance Run from August 14–16, beginning at the Yerington Paiute Tribe and concluding at the Stewart Indian School. The 50-mile journey, split over two days, invites participants of all backgrounds to “lay down prayers with their feet.” It honors the children who survived boarding schools and remembers those who never came home. Learn more about the event and how to participate at https://www.remainingnativedocumentary.com/rr26.

“The Unstoppable Kids Prize honors films that show young people who refuse to let injustice define their future,” Blaney added. “Ku’s journey reminds us that young people can be fearless and that remembrance itself can be an act of courage. By facing history with honesty and heart, young leaders can forge purposeful paths forward for themselves and their communities.”

The Unstoppable Kids Prize reflects Shine Global’s commitment to recognizing films that uplift and empower young people around the world. Remaining Native stands as a moving testament to the enduring strength of Indigenous youth, the power of intergenerational resilience, and the belief that the path forward is strongest when it honors those who came before.

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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.

Since our founding in 2005 by Susan MacLaury and Albie Hecht, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente, an Academy Award® nomination for Best Live Action Short for Anuja, and an Academy Award® nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

The Shine Global Resilience Awards were created to honor films that highlight the strength, dignity, and power of children in the face of adversity. Past winners of Shine Global Resilience Awards include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Directed by Guy Mossman and Jennifer Tiexiera), Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace), and Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short Rise (2025, Directed by Jessica J. Rowlands), the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Okthanksbye (2023, Nicole Van Kilsdok) with ReelAbilities Film Festival, Savauges (2024, directed by Claude Barras), and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.