All The Empty Rooms | Oscar-Winning Documentary, Screening and Conversation

Join Tufts University for an exclusive screening of the acclaimed Academy Award®-winning documentary All the Empty Rooms, followed by an insightful Q&A and conversation with Tufts alumni who helped bring this powerful story to life. The event is hosted by the Tufts Film and Media Studies Program, along with facilitators Professor of the Practice Howard Woolf (FMS) and Professor Julie Dobrow (CIS, CSHD, FMS).

Stay after the discussion for a celebratory reception with food, drinks, and conversation with the creative team and alums Joshua Seftel (A90), Avi Bond (A21), Eric Nichols (A11), Vikram Akula (A90), and Anna Rowe (A12).

Free and open to the public - REGISTRATION REQUIRED: https://www.fms-narratives.blog/event-details-registration/all-the-empty-rooms-oscar-winning-documentary-film-and-conversation Please note: Students in FMS1 and FMS2 are NOT required to register for the screening. Please check your syllabus for details regarding this event.

ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS, Academy Award® Winner • Best Documentary Short Film, follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Hartman steps away from his heartwarming human interest stories and, unbeknownst to his network’s bosses, pursues a piece on absence, memory, and the unseen ripples of America's gun violence epidemic. As these senseless incidents claim more young lives than any other cause in America, these quiet bedrooms reveal truths more powerful than statistics ever could.

Visit the All the Empty Rooms website to learn more about the film: https://www.alltheemptyrooms.com/

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Alumni Creative Team Joshua Seftel (A90), Director Academy Award nominee Joshua Seftel is known for Stranger at the Gate, executive produced by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, and documentaries for HBO, POV, New York Times Op-Docs, The New Yorker, and This American Life.

Vikram Akula (A90) Vikram Akula is a pioneer in expanding banking access for the world's poorest. He founded one of the world's largest micro-loan companies, which has disbursed over $36 billion to almost 10 million low-income women in India. He was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in the world.

Avi Bond (A21) Avi Bond is an Associate Producer and Special Projects Lead at Oscar®-winning Smartypants Pictures, working across development, production, and impact. She led the impact campaign for the Oscar-nominated Stranger at the Gate - producing nearly 100 live events and recruiting partners including Malala Yousafzai - and was a Co-Producer on the Oscar-winning All the Empty Rooms, contributing across development, casting, field production, and its global impact.

Eric Nichols (A11) Eric Nichols is an Emmy-winning producer and creative director. Most recently, he executive-produced the 2026 Academy Award®-winning All the Empty Rooms and the Oscar-nominated Stranger at the Gate. His producing work also includes the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated The Secret Life of Muslims, the Emmy-nominated Self-Evident, and How to Fix a Primary, the feature documentary following Abdul El-Sayed in his run to become the country’s first Muslim governor.

ANNA BICK ROWE (A12) Anna Bick Rowe is an Emmy-winning and Peabody-nominated producer currently working as Executive Producer and Head of Production at Oscar®-winning Smartypants Pictures. Recent film credits include Academy Award®-winning All the Empty Rooms, Oscar-nominated Stranger at the Gate. In addition to her documentary work, Anna has produced content for brands such as Adidas, Delta Air Lines, The Lincoln Motor Company, Macy’s, Snapchat, Cadillac, Indeed, Cooper Tires, and Ford Motor Company, as well as films for dozens of nonprofits and higher education institutions.