In partnership with the Niskayuna Community Action Program (NCAP), Niskayuna High School will host a free screening of the documentary short All the Empty Rooms on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 6 p.m., in the auditorium. The community is invited to attend.
The audience will have the opportunity to hear directly from Niskayuna High School Class of 1986 alum and movie director Joshua Seftel, who will be present for the screening.
After the viewing, he will share thoughts and perspective during a moderated discussion with fellow NHS Class of 1986 graduate Vikram Akula. Both Seftel and Akula are members of the NHS Hall of Fame.
“Having alumni return to the high school to meet students and share their stories is an opportunity we’re looking forward to,” said Niskayuna High School Principal Anthony Malizia. “We’re excited to learn more about the ways Niskayuna education helped shape their lives,” and equally as excited to provide current NHS students with a chance to learn from them.”
Attendees should be aware of the potentially difficult topics addressed in the movie and are advised to consider learning about it before coming to the screening. Niskayuna CSD mental health providers and our School Resource Officer will also be attending.
All the Empty Rooms, which has won several awards, including an Academy Award for 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 typical 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. These quiet bedrooms reveal truths more powerful than statistics ever could.
Joshua Seftel is an Oscar-winning and Emmy-winning American filmmaker and journalist known for humanistic documentaries, political satire and multimedia projects. At the 98th Academy Awards, his film All the Empty Rooms won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. He is widely recognized for his unique ability to tackle heavy social themes by stripping away partisan noise and focusing entirely on shared human experiences.
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.