Jan. 31st, 2026 – The Playhouse presented an emotionally moving documentary short by Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Joshua Seftel, which followed reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp on a cross-country journey to memorialize the bedrooms of children lost to school shootings. Through these intimate spaces, the film honored young lives cut short while confronting the urgent and growing crisis of gun violence in America.
The documentary, which has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film and selected by major festivals including Telluride and TIFF, offered a quiet yet devastating meditation on loss, memory, and the need for action. Its restrained approach allowed the personal stories behind the statistics to speak with profound impact.
Following the screening, Seftel joined moderator Steve Hartman for a thoughtful Q&A, discussing the origins of the project, the responsibility of storytelling in moments of national trauma, and the importance of bearing witness. The conversation gave audiences deeper insight into the film’s intent and the emotional weight carried by those who created it.
The evening left a lasting impression—serving both as a memorial and a call to reflect on how storytelling can illuminate hard truths and inspire meaningful dialogue.
