For Sam, America has always been home. Yet without a pathway to citizenship, he and over half a million DACA recipients live in limbo, dependent on a temporary status renewed every two years. When his mother is suddenly deported, Sam must confront his own precarious reality through a new lens.

Almost American

In the German countryside, an aging spiritual commune clings to the echoes of enlightenment and free love, even as the winds of change grow impossible to ignore. What remains of the utopias of the 1980s? How does one confront impermanence? The community’s caretaker meets the slow fade of time with quiet resilience and his ever-present cordless drill. A meditation on growing old, holding on, and letting go, the story unfolds at the threshold between old ideals and new realities.

Wahhab, Hausmeister (Wahhab, Caretaker)

Hyodo lives near Tokyo in a vibrant house filled with hundreds of sex dolls. An unconventional character living amidst the normalcy and conformity of Japan, his life blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Hyodo’s hedonistic, imaginative world is explored unflinchingly in an affectionate portrait of a deeply complex man.

Hyodo's Paradise

Four Mexican-American middle school boys in a Texas border town have developed an unusual obsession: Joseph Stalin. When their teacher tells them about the Texas State History Fair, they write a play about the Soviet dictator and his efforts to destroy all who opposed him. With cardboard props and fur hats purchased on the internet, the boys enter the competition as underdogs and leave home for the very first time.

Stalin Boys

After the Los Angeles wildfires, thousands of homes survived but were left contaminated with toxic ash. With many insurance companies declaring these houses habitable, residents face an impossible choice: return and risk their health, or abandon their homes. Shot on 16mm, the film captures how familiar, intimate spaces are transformed into alien, hazardous landscapes.

Still Standing

United States of America

Virtual Shorts Block 8

Virtual Admission

Big Sky Film Institute216 W Main StreetMissoula MT 59802 EIN20-1937230

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Welcome to the 23rd annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival! Enjoy the convenience of browsing through our full festival program, purchasing tickets and special events for this year's festival.

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Thank you for joining us for the 2026 virtual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival!

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, now in its 22nd year, is the premier venue for non-fiction film in the American West. Enjoy an expansive virtual catalog of new nonfiction films streaming February 17-27, 2025

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.