Yahoo and The Nonfiction Hotlist Reveal Documentary Short Film Selections

Key Takeaways

• After receiving nearly 1,000 submissions from an open call to filmmakers, Yahoo Media Group and The Nonfiction Hotlist are recognizing 20 standout documentary short films.
• These selections are streaming now on Yahoo, enhancing the company's video offering and creating a new pathway for nonfiction filmmakers to showcase their work to a global audience.
• The films will also be featured at the first-ever Yahoo x Nonfiction Hotlist Film Festival at the new, state-of-the-art theater at the renowned American Dream entertainment and retail center in New Jersey.

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In January, Yahoo Media Group and The Nonfiction Hotlist put out an open call, inviting filmmakers to submit their documentary short films for global recognition and distribution. Nearly 1,000 nonfiction filmmakers from around the world answered, and now the results are in.

Today, Yahoo Media Group and The Nonfiction Hotlist are recognizing their final 20 selections, a curated list of standout documentaries that spans the worlds of art and culture, biography, business, nature, and sports. The films are available now at yahoo.com/nonfictionhotlist, enhancing the company's video offering and introducing these artists and their work to the roughly 700 million people who visit Yahoo every month.¹ The selections are also available to watch on the Yahoo YouTube channel.

In addition, the documentaries will be featured at the first-ever Yahoo x Nonfiction Hotlist Film Festival, held the weekend of Aug. 22-23 at the American Dream entertainment and retail center in East Rutherford, N.J. Over the two days, the films will screen at the new, state-of-the-art Dream Live Performing Arts Center, bringing a film festival atmosphere directly to the center's hundreds of thousands of weekend visitors. The festival culminates with a special screening event Sunday evening, highlighted by filmmaker fireside chats and a performance from country musician Joshua Ray Walker, the subject of the selected film, Thank You for Listening. Attendance is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"The Nonfiction Hotlist exists to give nonfiction storytelling new pathways forward, and there's no better proof of that than today," said Adam Neuhaus, CEO and co-founder of The Nonfiction Hotlist. "That's what happens when a platform like Yahoo joins us in building something new for this industry, and we hope it's just the start."

"This remarkable collection of films represents the very best of what nonfiction storytelling can be: powerful, surprising, and deeply human," said Ryan Spoon, President of Yahoo Media Group. "We're excited to grow our video offering with films of this caliber, and we're proud to help give these exceptional filmmakers a global stage to showcase their work."

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Yahoo x The Nonfiction Hotlist Selections

Spanning five distinct categories, and in no particular order, the 20 selections include:

‍Arts & Culture

• Thank You for Listening (available to stream beginning Aug. 19): In a captivating exploration of hope and healing, this film chronicles Joshua Ray Walker's journey as he battles third-generation cancer and plans his return to the Grand Ole Opry, the mecca of country music. Directed by Gene Gallerano and Bob Ray.

• Chasin' Butterflies: Rooted in rural Alabama yet untethered from convention, artist Butch Anthony lives somewhere between myth and memory. This film reveals a deeply human portrait of intertwanglism (a unique style of art created by Anthony), self-invention, and what it means to become an original. Directed by Adam Hobbs, Matt Klug, and Joshua Harding.

• TR(ol)L: Total Request Live, New Kids on the Block and the Chain Letter that Changed the Internet: In 1999, an online chain letter sparked a campaign to get New Kids On The Block's decade-old "Hangin' Tough" video on MTV's Total Request Live, forcing the show to make a decision that would pioneer modern online trolling. Told from the people who were there, this film shows a catalytic moment in Internet history that still influences keyboard pranksters, and their hilariously cheeky viral campaigns, to this day.Directed by Yourgo Artsitas.

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Biography

• Dual Wielder: Across Los Angeles, the initials E.E. dominate the high score of every Time Crisis cabinet. Who is the mysterious figure who conquered the two-player arcade game as one player? This film gives a glimpse into the colorful world of arcade hero Eddie Esguerra as he grapples with legacy, finds community, and inspires people to be more boldly themselves. Directed by Julia Boyd.

• Shanti Rides Shotgun: On Manhattan's jam-packed streets, New York City's most iconic driving instructor prepares students for the road ahead. This film profiles Shanti Gooljar, who captivates her students with her unapologetic teaching style. But beneath her tough exterior lies a world of heartache and loss.Directed by Charles Frank.

• Noggin: After multiple sclerosis begins to affect his memory, filmmaker Case Jernigan embarks on a deeply personal journey to preserve the people and moments he holds most dear. Blending animation with heartfelt storytelling, Noggin is a moving reflection on memory, resilience, and love. Directed by Case Jernigan.

• The Grandfather Puzzle: Growing up middle-class in Maryland, Ora DeKornfeld was only vaguely aware that her Hungarian grandfather was once a baron who lost everything fleeing the Holocaust. Now, at the age of 100, he refuses to do anything but jigsaw puzzles. Seeking to bridge the silence that has defined their relationship, she journeys to Hungary to photograph the castle he grew up in and transform it into a puzzle they can solve together. This film is presented by Yahoo and The Nonfiction Hotlist, with co-distribution by Switchboard Magazine. Directed by Ora DeKornfeld.

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Business

• How Fast Can you Eat a Pickled Egg: The Cock Tavern is no ordinary East London pub. Renowned for its larger-than-life regulars, it also plays host to one of the city's quirkiest underground traditions: the pickled egg eating competition. From local legends chasing eternal glory to wide-eyed newcomers testing their limits, the film is a funny and heartfelt portrait of a place where tradition is steeped in vinegar - and victory tastes oddly sulphuric. Directed by Daniel England.

• The Baker's Hotline (available to stream beginning Aug. 19): A dedicated team of passionate bakers work the King Arthur Flour call center, offering expert advice and answering perplexing baking questions from an eclectic array of callers, revealing the transformative power of baking and the unexpected long-lasting connections it fosters. Directed by Emily Schuman and Dave Schuman.

• A Home for Everything: A bin store in the rural city of Trenton, Georgia becomes a lifeline to an economically disadvantaged community, reselling discounted returns that would normally go to a landfill. This film follows life inside Sharon Baugh's store, Mom N' Pops, during her final year running the business, documenting the profound effect it has on the people who rely on it and a woman whose generosity and dignity transformed a community. Directed by Amanda Roddy.

• The Moleman: Confronting loss, grief and moles, an aging mole trapper grapples with a decades-long obsession. Tom Schmidt, known as "The Moleman," is now 80 and recently widowed, clinging to his profession not so much for the sake of new discovery, but rather for fear of change as he hunts for his next step. Directed by Billy Miossi.

• Kowloon!: Saugus, Mass. is home to Kowloon, the largest Chinese restaurant in the U.S. This film tells the story of the Wong family, third-generation owners of the iconic restaurant, their American dream, and their future as they look to downsize after 70 years of operation. Directed by Mona Xia.

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Nature

• The Final Bow: A rare wood, a disappearing forest, and the music that could vanish with it. This film follows master bow maker Christophe Landon, celebrated cellist Coleman Itzkoff, and Brazilian conservationists united by a struggle over pernambuco, an endangered tree found only in Brazil's Atlantic Forest and essential to the world's finest string instrument bows. Directed by Iona Horton and Luisa Barone.

• Eco-Hack!: Tim Shields, an unconventional field biologist, has watched desert tortoise populations in the Mojave Desert plummet since the 1990s. The latest threat? Ballooning populations of ravens thanks to increased human activity in the desert. Building specialized drones, desert rovers, laser cannons, and fake exploding tortoise shells, Shields is waging a technological war on ravens in a last ditch effort to save the species, and prove that innovation, technology, and imagination may be the last hope for saving the planet. Directed by Brett Marty and Josh Izenberg.

• Love Birds: When married biologists George Hunt and Molly Warner discovered 'lesbian seagulls' on Santa Barbara Island in 1972, they didn't expect national headlines. But the media frenzy that followed would upend their lives and relationship, and trigger both outrage and jubilation in a nation grappling with the rise of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Directed by Elliott Kennerson and Angel Morris.

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Sports

• How We RoIl: A community of passionate folks find connection and escape on the gravel courts of the Elmwood Park Bocce League, a no-nonsense, community-run organization in the Chicago suburbs. This film explores how bocce acts as a bridge, bringing men and women of all ages and backgrounds together to compete on equal footing and turn a vacant space into a vital gathering place. Directed by Anthony Ciancio.

• Panther Pat (available to stream beginning Aug. 19): In 1970, Patricia Palinkas became the first woman to play professional football when she stepped onto the field for the Orlando Panthers. A schoolteacher with no playbook and everything to prove, her appearance shocked the nation and was quickly forgotten. This film resurrects this high-stakes moment in sports history, tracing how one woman challenged the gender barrier of America's game.Directed by Ashley Brandon.

• Confessions of a Jumbotron Addict: An obsessive Brooklyn Nets basketball fan decodes one of the great mysteries of attending live sporting events: how to get up on the jumbotron. With a newfound superpower to get the crowd hyped through ridiculous dance moves, he finds himself at the center of a double-overtime thriller against the Detroit Pistons.Directed by Mickey Duzyj.

• Murewa: Two boys form a close friendship in a quiet coastal town, sharing passions for skateboarding and photography. As they grow up, life takes them in drastically different directions: one to university, the other to prison. Through years of home video, the film reflects on the complexities of growing up, and how opportunity and circumstance shape the futures of young people in ways they don't fully grasp at the time. Directed by Ché Scott-Heron Newton.

• The Meloneers: Set in Rocky Ford, Colo., a small town in rural America, this coming-of-age story examines the intersection of wrestling and fatherhood. Despite a modest annual budget, the town's high school wrestling team consistently brings home state championships. Its athletes are the same age Coach Mike Jurney was when his dad disappeared from his life. Jurney was left to live on his own and raise himself, and he refuses to let his wrestlers live that same story. Directed by Brendan Young.

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For more information on the Yahoo x The Nonfiction Hotlist selections, visit yahoo.com/nonfictionhotlist. To learn more about the Yahoo x Nonfiction Hotlist Film Festival, visit here.

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