Session Details
All the Empty Rooms
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS 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.
Directed by Joshua Seftel and produced by Seftel and Conall Jones, the 33-minute documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards in March 2026. It is dedicated to eight children killed in school shootings, and it is available on Netflix.
Content note: this film deals with the deaths of children in school shootings.
1. Describe the toll of firearm deaths on children, families and communities as portrayed in the film.
2. Reflect on how storytelling and personal narrative can motivate injury and violence prevention.
3. Identify ways pediatric injury prevention professionals can support affected families and advocate for prevention.