A documentary short that honors children killed in school shootings has won the Best Documentary Short Film award at the 98th Academy Awards.
The film, All the Empty Rooms, highlights the lasting impact of school shootings by showing the preserved bedrooms of children who never returned home.
The project was inspired by work from Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp, who visited families across the United States to document the personal spaces left behind after tragic school shootings.
Director Joshua Seftel accepted the Oscar alongside Hartman, producer Conall Jones, and Gloria Cazares, whose daughter was among the children honored in the film.
Remembering the children
The documentary focuses on the bedrooms of four young victims — Hallie, Gracie, Dominic and Jackie — spaces that remain largely unchanged since their deaths.
During the award acceptance speech, Cazares spoke about her 9-year-old daughter, who was killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting.
She described how her daughter’s bedroom has remained untouched since the tragedy and urged greater awareness of the growing impact of gun violence on children.
From photo project to award-winning film
The documentary began as a storytelling project when Hartman contacted Seftel after the previous Oscars ceremony to discuss documenting the rooms of children lost in school shootings.
Seftel later said Hartman was an ideal person to help tell the story because viewers trust his compassionate approach to reporting.
Over several years, Hartman visited eight families who lost children to gun violence. The film highlights four of those families while capturing the emotional weight carried through everyday objects left behind in the children’s rooms.
Photographer Bopp said the goal was to capture the identity of each child through the small details in their preserved spaces — items such as personal belongings, school memorabilia and decorations that reflect who they were.
The project also includes an interactive digital experience that allows viewers to explore the children’s rooms and learn more about their lives.