23 min · English · Documentary
Meet Lusia Harris in her own words. A short introduction to a basketball life that deserves to be better known.
Documentary short films
41 Documentary short films in the cafe, running 5 to 50 minutes. Many are thought-provoking or calm. They span 7 languages. Each is a complete standalone short film, chosen by the cafe and played through its original video provider.
35 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “The Barber of Little Rock” to see the world from another angle. A barber builds a nonprofit community bank to close the racial wealth gap.
14 min · English · Animation · Documentary
Take a short break with “Ryan” to see the world from another angle.
21 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Our Neighbors, The Peacocks” to see the world from another angle.
40 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “The Last Repair Shop” to see the world from another angle. The craftspeople who repair every instrument for Los Angeles public school students.
25 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Joe's Violin” to see the world from another angle. A Holocaust survivor donates his violin to a Bronx schoolgirl.
11 min · English · Documentary
Residents of a former mining community near Leeds share memories and anxieties as they campaign against demolition of their homes.
15 min · English · Documentary
What happens when your livelihood no longer fits your conscience? Choose 73 Cows for a short documentary about a farmer weighing an unusually difficult change.
9 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “A Marriage to Remember” to see the world from another angle. How Alzheimer's revealed the strength of the filmmaker's parents' marriage.
8 min · English · Documentary
Carving a wooden spoon becomes a way to think about the doubts we bring to our work. A pick for slowing down with someone's craft and honesty.
27 min · English · Documentary
What can belonging cost? Listen to Cornelius Walker's account of identity and survival in a documentary that confronts racism and the pressure to fit in.
31 min · English · Documentary
See our shared home through the memories of the people who first photographed it from lunar orbit. Earthrise offers an astronaut-led documentary reflection on a picture that changed the view.
5 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Forest Bathing” to see the world from another angle. Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of healing in the forest.
16 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Frank” to see the world from another angle. Ninety-nine-year-old lawyer Frank Lucianna prepares for his final case, reflecting on a lifetime of work and his reluctance to retire.
10 min · Marathi · Documentary
Step into a part of Mumbai shaped by shared spaces and neighbours. Try this Marathi documentary for a look at the world of its chawls.
15 min · Portuguese · Animation · Documentary
Directed by Nara Normande; French-Brazilian co-production by Les Valseurs and Vilarejo Filmes. The upload cites a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere and awards including the Gramado Grand Prize and Best Animated Short at SXSW.
6 min · English · Documentary
A habit formed in solitude turns out to matter far beyond one cabin. Watch for a short documentary about curiosity and the value of careful observation.
20 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Heart Valley” to see the world from another angle. A loving portrait of Welsh shepherd Wilf Davies and his life lessons.
5 min · English · Documentary
War looks different from the people sent to fight it. Try this brief documentary for a soldier's perspective beyond the headlines.
11 min · English · Documentary
Watch a shelter take shape from snow before the Arctic night arrives. This NFB documentary offers a close look at the skill behind an igloo's construction.
8 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Ian” to see the world from another angle. A 72-year-old rock climber who defies age and keeps chasing his passion.
29 min · Korean · Documentary
Oscar-nominated documentary short and DOC NYC grand prize winner, produced by Field of Vision and Gary Byung-Seok Kam.
20 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Island in Between” to see the world from another angle. A Taiwanese-American filmmaker on Kinmen, the islands between Taiwan and China.
6 min · German · Documentary
Denise visits Vienna's Prater amusement park almost every day. Riding the Tagada carousel helps her cope with her past and find balance in her life.
9 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Mother's Day” to see the world from another angle. Children in California take an annual bus trip to visit their mothers in prison.
35 min · Tamil · Documentary · Drama
Take a short break with “Nagarodi” to see the world from another angle. People neglected by the government and authorities - a Neelam documentary.
27 min · Malayalam · Documentary
Take a short break with “Neeliyar Kottam” to see the world from another angle. A small sacred grove protected for generations in the middle of a busy town.
8 min · English · Documentary
What can washed-up plastic become? Spend eight minutes with two artists who turn a beach's discarded objects into a different way of seeing waste.
13 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Perfectly Normal for Me (How Autism Feels)” to see the world from another angle. Jordan Kamnitzer tries to show what living with Asperger's is like from the inside.
51 min · Tamil · Documentary · Drama
Take a short break with “Powering Pollution!” to see the world from another angle. Villages around the NLC Neyveli thermal plants and mines and the pollution they live with.
11 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Sansedai (Three Generations)” to see the world from another angle. Three generations of a Japanese-American family, through 1930s home movies and photobooks.
17 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “Slomo” to see the world from another angle.
20 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “The Candy Factory” to see the world from another angle. A singular artists' enclave in Brooklyn held together by collaboration.
7 min · English · Documentary
An early-cinema invention becomes a window into a complicated family history. Try Drew Christie's short for an unusual meeting of moving pictures, memory and mortality.
15 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “The Man Who Climbed Everest 21 Times” to see the world from another angle. A breathtaking look at the life of a Sherpa who has climbed Everest 21 times.
16 min · English · Documentary
Take a short break with “The Many Lives of a New York City Doorman” to see the world from another angle. Yves Deshommes - doorman, art dealer, violinist - and his many lives.
9 min · English · Documentary
How much do you need to make a home—and a life? Join David Welsford aboard a small wooden boat for a documentary about choosing experience over possessions.
28 min · English · Documentary · Science fiction
Roman Kroitor and Colin Low's Oscar-nominated 1960 NFB documentary, a voyage through the universe that Stanley Kubrick drew on for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
41 min · Tamil · Documentary
Stay with a community that refused to let its struggle for justice disappear. A pick for viewers interested in documentary accounts of power, resistance and collective action.
12 min · English · Documentary
Step inside a bookstore built against the odds. Watch for a portrait of Josh Spencer and the community finding a home among his shelves.
Related guides
English documentary short films · Drama short films · Comedy short films · Romantic short films · Thriller short films · Animated short films · All guides