American Documentary’s POV Shorts Celebrates Classroom 4 Among the Year’s Standouts in 98th Academy Awards® Documentary Shortlist
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Overview
Shortlisted Films Reveal a Shared Humanity in Transformation Within Spaces of Incarceration and In a Photographer’s Impassioned Call for Climate Action
Brooklyn, N.Y.— December 17, 2025 — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, announced that Classroom 4 and Chasing Time (the 40-minute Director’s Cut), have been added to the shortlist ahead of formal nominations for Best Documentary Short Film for the 98th Academy Awards®. Both films had their premieres in the 8th season of POV Shorts with the 24-minute version of Chasing Time being available for streaming on PBS.
This end of year announcement is welcome news for the organization who just completed their 38th season of POV and received industry recognition from the Hamptons DocFest with this year’s HDF Impact Award for their ongoing commitment to independent storytelling.
"All of us at American Documentary are honored to have the Academy recognize Classroom 4 and Chasing Time on this year’s Oscar® shortlist. These filmmakers show us how powerful and visionary the shortform documentary can be: these are unforgettable stories that introduce us to compelling protagonists and harness all the joy, beauty and drama of a feature length film in works that unfold like grand narratives and stay with us for a long time,” said Erika Dilday, executive director of American Documentary and executive producer of POV, POV Shorts, America ReFramed. “In a time where public media and the documentary field are facing challenges, as an organization we remain committed to this industry, to filmmaker advocacy, and deepening our partnerships, and bringing bold, authentic and artfully created stories to audiences around the country. This is an exciting time for documentary shorts, we’re seeing a resurgence in filmmakers engaging with short nonfiction storytelling, a renewed interest by audiences and stations and we’re looking ahead to the future of the short form space and elevating nonfiction film and filmmakers to broader audiences."
“I couldn't be more excited at this news -- sending hearty congratulations to the exceptional film teams behind Chasing Time and Classroom 4, and extending much gratitude to the Academy for honoring their work. Chasing Time highlights the power and responsibility of legacy, both in front of and behind the camera, and Classroom 4, shows how an open-minded approach to education can both illuminate and heal. Together they lead a season of titles that represent amongst the best the form has to offer,” said Opal H. Bennett, Executive Producer, POV Shorts and Senior Producer, POV. “For the past 38 years, POV has been the home for artists looking to effect change with films that are at the vanguard of craft and impact. POV Shorts has continued that legacy for its 8 seasons and seeing that work honored is always a gratifying moment. At this time of increased challenges to both funding and platforms alike, the continued ability to partner with filmmakers to present their work to the audiences that need to see it most is the best part of the work we get to do, and honors which uplift their work only help to sustain and support the effort.”
To read our POV Shorts Season 8 announcement and find photos and press materials visit amdoc.org
Classroom 4
Director: Eden Wurmfeld
Producers: Eden Wurmfeld, Yael Bridge
Classroom 4 is the story of an award-winning professor teaching "The History of Crime and Punishment" inside a prison to a class of both free students and incarcerated students. Through exploring concepts including masculinity, prison abolition, and mercy, the work reveals the true cost of mass incarceration and the power of human connection to transform society.
RT: 38’ 54” | Country: USA | Year: 2025 | Language: English
Classroom 4 has been screened widely across film festivals throughout 2025 including the Hamptons International Film Festival, DC/DOX, San Francisco Documentary Festival, DOC NYC, Aspen Shortsfest and LA Shorts International Film Festival where it won the Best Documentary Award.
Chasing Time
Directors: Jeff Orlowski-Yang, Sarah Keo
Producers: Brette Ragland, Larissa Rhodes, Jeff Orlowski-Yang, Stacey Piculell
A meditative exploration of time and mortality, Chasing Time follows photographer James Balog as he brings the 15-year Extreme Ice Survey project to a close. A beautiful tribute to the power of images, the Emmy-winning team behind Chasing Ice returns to unveil astounding visual evidence of climate change and to inspire action toward a sustainable future.
RT: 24’ 20” | Country: USA | Year: 2025 | Language: English
Nominations voting begins at 9 a.m. PT, Monday, January 12, 2026, and concludes at 5 p.m. PT, Friday, January 16, 2026. The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, The 98th Oscars® ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday March 15, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and televised live on ABC.
About
About POV Shorts
POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries.The series is known for its curation, and for broadcasting award-winning titles, including: Emmy® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same, Emmy® award winners The Love Bugs, the Oscar® winning Days of Waiting, and the Oscar® shortlisted A Broken House and Aguilas. The series won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2023, 2022 and 2020, with A Broken House winning Best Short in 2022. Series titles In the Absence, A Night at the Garden, 4.1 Miles, Joe’s Violin, and Hardwood have all been nominated for Oscar® awards.
About POV
Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied (1989), Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1992), Rabbit in the Room (1999), Of Civil Wrongs & Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story (2001), Made in L.A. (2007), American Promise (2013), Not Going Quietly (2021), While We Watched (2022), A House Made of Splinters (2022) and the mini-series And She Could be Next (2020). Throughout its history POV has featured the work of award-winning, innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras, Nanfu Wang, Frederick Wiseman, Emiko Omori, Janus Metz Pedersen and Ava DuVernay. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. In 2024, Indiewire named seven POV films in its roundup of “The 50 Best Documentaries of the 21st Century”: Faya Dayi (2021), The Mole Agent (2020), Minding The Gap (2018), Cameraperson (2016), The Look of Silence (2015), The Act of Killing (2013) and After Tiller (2013). All POV programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast, VIZIO and YouTube. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.
POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Instagram.
POV films and projects have won 48 Emmy Awards, 28 George Foster Peabody Awards, 16 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.
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 outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, 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, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirm that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.