The Ninth Annual PBS Short Film Festival Celebrates Independent Filmmakers and Showcases Diverse Storytelling

Twenty-Five Films Exploring Culture, Environment, Family, Humanity and Race Relations to Stream July 13-24 on All PBS Digital Platforms

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ARLINGTON, VA; June 18, 2020 - PBS announced today its Webby Award-nominated PBS Short Film Festival will return for a ninth year from July 13-24 to all PBS and station digital platforms, including PBS.org, YouTube and Facebook. The festival features 25 short-form independent films presented in five categories: culture, environment, family, humanity and race.

The PBS Short Film Festival is part of a multiplatform initiative to increase the reach and visibility of independent filmmakers and to provide a showcase for diverse storytelling that both inspires and engages.

At PBS, we have been committed to bringing a diversity of voices into American homes, said Ira Rubenstein, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer. As we celebrate independent filmmakers once again this year, we're especially proud to showcase a variety of features and perspectives across multiple platforms and help to elevate important stories.

Starting at midnight on Monday, July 13, audiences can watch, share and vote for their favorite film to win the Most Popular award. In addition, a panel of seven jury members will select their favorite film of the festival for the Juried Prize.

This year's jury members include Simon Kilmurry, Executive Director, International Documentary Association; Mike Sargent, Founder, Black Film Critics Circle; Eric Gulliver, Producer, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE; Chloe Walters-Wallace, Documentary Lab Manager, Firelight Media & Films; Adnaan Wassey, Digital Media Executive, formerly of POV; Pamela A. Aguilar, Senior Director, General Audience Programming and Development, PBS; and Judith Vecchione, Executive Producer, WGBH Educational Foundation.

Films featured in the PBS Short Film Festival have been selected and provided by 18 public media partners and PBS member stations. This year's lineup includes films from Black Public Media, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Independent Television Service (ITVS), Latino Public Broadcasting, National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), POV, Reel South, Vision Maker Media and World Channel, as well as PBS local member stations, Alabama Public Television (APTV), Illinois Public Media, KQED, KLRU-TV Austin PBS, Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), MPT Digital Studios, WNET (New York) and WSIU (Illinois).

Generating more than nine million streams over the course of the festival's history, the PBS Short Film Festival continues to be an engaging annual digital event. The festival also received a 2015 Webby Awards nomination for Online Film & Video: Variety (Channel).

For more information and updates on the PBS Short Film Festival, visit www.pbs.org/filmfestival. Viewers are also encouraged to engage in online conversation by tagging @PBS and using #PBSFilmFest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Below is the full list of short films featured in the 2020 PBS Short Film Festival, separated into the five presenting categories of culture, environment, family, humanity, and race.

CULTURE

Knocking Down the Fences (REEL SOUTH)

This is the story of a superstar athlete and why the sports industry hasnt put her on your radar. AJ Andrews is the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove, an award given to the best fielders in baseball for decades. But winning the Gold Glove did not change the fact that Andrews earns less than $15k a year in an industry more willing to pay female athletes to model than to play their sport.

Paddle Together (ILLINOIS PUBLIC MEDIA)

Breast cancer survivors find support and friendship in a unique sport: dragon boat racing.

You Know the Drill (ILLINOIS PUBLIC MEDIA)

Most American teens and their parents worry a shooting could happen at their school. While some administrators claim active shooter drills help prepare students, a child psychologist questions whether these drills might cause more harm than good.

Edwin (KLRU-TV/ AUSTIN PBS)

Edwin Debrow Jr. murdered a cab driver when he was 12. He was sentenced to 40 years. Today he's walking out.

How Turfing Became Synonymous with Oakland (KQED/PUBLIC MEDIA FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA)

Turf dancers combine abrupt, angular movements with graceful footwork.

ENVIRONMENT

Standing Above the Clouds (PACIFIC ISLANDER IN COMMUNICATIONS/PIC)

Follow Hawaiian mother-daughter activists as they stand to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the world's largest telescope.

The Seed Saver (INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE/ITVS)

Explore the philosophy and appreciation of cooking and the art and science of growing food. In this standalone episode, a young agricultural innovator, Kristyn Leach, dives deep into the process of growing grains and explores her Korean heritage with other Korean American farmers. Along the way, Kristyn helps viewers discover the challenges young agriculturalists face and expands the idea of who a modern American farmer is today.

One Way (WNET/NEW YORK PUBLIC MEDIA)

A man decides he needs to get away from his overheated office to a colder climate.

FAMILY

In This Family (CENTER FOR ASIAN AMERICAN/CAAM)

Ten years after being outed by his teacher, a gay man revisits raw audio recordings of his Filipino familys reactions.

To Infinity (LOUISIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING)

A dying father helps his young daughter carry an imaginary mission into space in order to reunite her with her mother; which leads to an unimaginable revelation.

Maria (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS / NALIP)

Set against the devastation of a recent hurricane, a young woman's mental health is pushed to the edge when she returns home to care for her suicidal father.

Joyride (LATINO PUBLIC

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