“All the Empty Rooms” Wins Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film
Award-Winning Documentary About Gun Violence Co-Executive Produced by TouroCOM Professor Dr. Conrad Fischer
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Touro University extends its heartfelt congratulations to the producers, filmmakers, and entire creative team behind All the Empty Rooms, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night.
The film is a 2025 documentary short directed by Joshua Seftel that follows CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they document the untouched bedrooms of children killed in school shootings.
The 33-minute film, seven-year project was co-executive produced by Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Distinguished Professor Conrad Fischer, M.D.
“We’re extremely honored for the Academy’s recognition of All the Empty Rooms,” said Dr. Fischer. “The empty bedrooms in our film belong to four children: Dominic, 14; Hallie, 9; Jackie, 9; and Gracie, 15, each of whose lives was ended far too soon. Our hope is that this film helps reframe gun violence through a human lens. No matter what, we can agree on one thing: our children deserve to be safe at school.”
Dr. Fischer said the story had to be told because death from guns is totally preventable, unlike many illnesses that cause death.
“People think and feel through the stories we hear. They change the way we feel about our society. We want people to feel the pain of those children who have died in gun violence and their families. Telling this as the story of four dead children will do more than any amount of statistics.”
With firearms top cause of death in children in the United States, the filmmakers wanted everyone to “have the opportunity to feel what it is like to stand in one of those rooms. It would change the country,” said Dr. Fischer.
