American Documentary

Overview

New York, N.Y. – December 22, 2021 – American Documentary is proud and excited for the film teams of Águilas and A Broken House on being shortlisted in the 94th Academy Awards'® Documentary Awards - Short Subject category as announced yesterday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Both films are part of POV Shorts 4th season.

"In another fantastic year for documentary films, we honored that Águilas and A Broken House have been named among the best pieces of nonfiction filmmaking" said Erika Dilday, executive director/executive producer of American Documentary | POV. We are so happy the film teams chose POV as their public media home as the power of inspiring, sobering and compassionate stories has never felt so meaningfully urgent. That we get to share them all over the country with no barriers to access is a privilege that we at POV cherish.”

"I am so very excited for Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre, directors of Águilas and Jimmy Goldblum, director of A Broken House and so very proud of these films," said Opal H. Bennett, co-producer and POV Shorts producer. "It’s an ever-rewarding privilege to connect outstanding stories, subjects and creators with our public television audience. We’re glad this recognition gives Águilas and A Broken House an expanded platform to share their impactful narratives."

Águilas and A Broken House join 13 other films shortlisted from among 82 projects which qualified this year in the Documentary Short Subject category. You can read more about the films below.

Águilas directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre

Along the scorching southern border in Arizona, only an estimated one out of every five missing migrants is ever found. Águilas is the story of one group of searchers–the Águilas del Desierto–who volunteer monthly to recover the missing.

A Broken House directed by Jimmy Goldblum

Mohamad Hafez received a one-way ticket to the United States. Missing his homeland, he decided to create a stand-in. A story of love, loss and creating pathways home.

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, American Promise and Minding The Gap and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are broadcast nationally on PBS, POV.org and the PBS Video app.

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 Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 45 Emmy Awards, 26 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 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 company 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 Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Perspective Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, Park Foundation, Sage Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Abby Pucker, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee 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.