Sixth Annual PBS Online Film Festival to Include 24 Independent Short Films Featuring Diverse Voices and Unique Storytelling

- The Festival Returns to All PBS Digital Platforms July 17 - July 28

Click Here to Watch the Trailer -

ARLINGTON, VA; JUNE 28, 2017 -- Today, PBS announced that the Webby Award-nominated PBS Online Film Festival will return for a sixth year July 17 - July 28, 2017, featuring 24 short-form independent films from POV and a broad spectrum of public media stations and partners. The PBS Online Film Festival is part of a multi-platform initiative to increase the reach and visibility of independent film on PBS and its member stations, and to promote unique, diverse content on the web. The PBS Online Film Festival showcases powerful and engaging stories from filmmakers across the country. The festival has become a popular annual online event, attracting more than 4.5 million views since the first festival in 2012.

Beginning July 17, the Festival will be available via PBS and station digital platforms including PBS.org, YouTube and PBS social media channels. The films will also be available via the PBS app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and FireTV devices.

This year's lineup features films from the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), National Black Programming Consortium, Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), POV, and Vision Maker Media, as well as PBS local member stations including Alaska Public Media, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, South Florida PBS, WHRO, ITVS, Detroit Public TV WTVS, KTTZ Texas PBS, WPT Wisconsin, KLRU-TV Austin PBS, KQED (San Francisco), Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Twin Cities Public Television, and Vermont PBS. Promotional partners for the PBS Online Film Festival include Independent Lens and World Channel.

Viewers are encouraged to vote for their favorite film to win the Most Popular award. And, for the first time ever, a distinguished panel of eight jury members will select their favorite film of the festival for the Juried Prize . For updates on the festival, follow #PBSFilmFest on Twitter.

PBS and its member stations are thrilled to kick off another year of excellent independent films, said Ira Rubenstein, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, PBS. The PBS Online Film Festival provides PBS and its member stations the opportunity to provide a diverse group of independent filmmakers a chance to share their stories with a highly engaged audience. This year brings another impressive lineup of powerful and moving films that will transform perspectives and encourage important conversations.

Short films featured in the PBS Online Film Festival include:

CAAM

It Is What It Is

Digging deep into family history for answers to questions about his identity, Cyrus finds some things might be better off left in the past.

Detroit Public TV WTVS

Periphery

A woman gets a new lease on life when she meets someone less fortunate.

ITVS

Guns on Campus

Fifty years after the first recorded mass shooting in U.S. history took place at the University of Texas in Austin, a new campus carry law allows people to carry concealed handguns on all public university campuses in Texas.

KLRU

The Secession

A story about two Texas boys, a secession, and egg rolls.

U R a Dial Tone

A sign language interpreter is emotionally and physically sucked into her clients' lives.

KTTZ

Lockbox

A girl receives a mysterious gift that will unravel secrets from the past.

Latino Public Broadcasting

Amigas with Benefits

Amigas with Benefits is a short dramedy about an elderly bride-to-be who nearly has her wedding day ruined by an uninvited guest.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Last Light

On the verge of her mother's death, Addie returns home to shed light on her dark past.

Si

Si, a temperamental six-year-old, gets a goldfish after begging for a puppy.

NALIP

Dad

In the course of a difficult day, Maria, a creative young girl, and her hardworking father must discover a way to mend love and memories while confronting loss.

NBPC

Kojo

A short profile piece that showcases the charismatic and talented drummer Kojo Odu Roney. In this exclusive interview Kojo offers his thoughts on Jazz, being home-schooled, traveling and his biggest influence, his father Antoine Roney.

You Can Go

A high school administrator talks down a troubled student.

PIC

Maria

When a family crisis strikes, an ailing Polynesian matriarch must find the strength to lead her family one last time.

POV

Our Voices Are Rarely Heard

A visceral snapshot of how inmates survive solitary confinement.

Reel South

A Thousand Midnights

Chronicles the contemporary manifestation of the economic and social histories of Black Americans who came to the north during the Great Migration in search of economic opportunities. The implications of their migration, and the lack of economic opportunity they encountered, has far reaching consequences for Black America today.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting

Black Hills Canyon Skating

While the Black Hills of South Dakota may lack the elevation and snow that makes for skiing, they make up for it with ice-providing intrepid winter explorers with miles of canyon streams on which to ice skate.

South Florida PBS

SunGhosts

A mini-documentary about SunGhosts, an up and coming indie rock band from Miami.

Twin Cities PBS

Rogue Taxidermy Artist Sarina Brewer

From goats with fishtails to cats with wings, Sarina Brewer celebrates animals in her art.

Syrian Photographer Osama Esid

Photographer Osama Esid seeks connection from his American neighbors to Syrian Refugees.

Vermont PBS

The Collinwood Fire

A news reporter and a filmmaker turn a 1908 elementary school fire into a media sensation.

Vision Makers Media

Legacy

Nikki Lowe's journey of being a mother, daughter, sister, and Native warrior.

WHRO

Our Nation

An African-American boy in Norfolk, VA in 1915 confronts racism in The

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