LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #44. All the Empty Rooms (Documentary, 2025)

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#44. All the Empty Rooms (Documentary, 2025)

“All the Empty Rooms” is a documentary film created in memory of the children killed in mass shootings that occurred in their schools. The film follows journalist/correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they spend seven years documenting and capturing images of the empty bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.

This documentary received the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. During the acceptance speech, producer Conall Jones wore an “End Gun Violence” pin from Brady, the country’s oldest organization focused on preventing gun violence. The film highlights the enduring impact of gun violence in the United States by presenting the preserved bedrooms of four children who were killed in school shootings. One of these rooms belonged to Jackie Cazaras, a victim of the Uvalde, Texas tragedy; her mother, Gloria Cazares, joined Jones, director Joshua Seftel, and journalist Steve Hartman on stage to accept the award.

 

(Steve Hartman, the journalist): “The shooters were mentioned way too much. What we need to talk about is the child who is not here anymore.”

ð  Hartman is pointing out the media and society’s habit of concentrating on the psychology, motives, or notoriety of school shooters, which can unintentionally glorify them or make them the central figure of the tragedy. Through this documentary, he and the photographer seek to shift attention back to the lives that were lost, personalizing the statistics by highlighting their bedrooms preserved in time. By emphasizing these “sacred spaces,” Hartman hopes to cut through the public’s desensitization to school shootings, encouraging empathy and confronting viewers with the lasting, everyday absence within these homes.

 

 

(Steve Hartman, the journalist): “What I’ve been doing is just whitewashing the whole thing. Imagine that you’re trying to find a good news in a school shooting. That’s been my job. At the end of the week, remind us that life is still worth living. I’m not gonna look at a school shooting and try to find some kind of positive angle to that. Not anymore.”

ð  Journalist Steve Hartman admits that his earlier “feel-good” reporting may have unintentionally softened, obscured, or glossed over the true devastation of school shootings. He states that he will no longer try to present these tragedies in a positive light, and will instead highlight the deep, lasting pain they cause.

Hartman recognizes that by searching for a “silver lining” or uplifting angle—such as stories of community strength—he was downplaying the full extent of the loss.

He acknowledges that this tendency toward optimism is inappropriate when faced with such senseless violence. This reflects his commitment to stop minimizing these events and to avoid contributing to a public that becomes desensitized and moves on too quickly. Instead, the documentary centers on the preserved bedrooms of victims, compelling viewers to face the deeply personal and enduring impact of these tragedies rather than the fleeting nature of typical media coverage.

 

(Chad Scruggs, Dad who lost his 9-year-old daughter in the Covenant School Shooting, March 27, 2023): “I don’t know what the benefit is for our family (to do this interview). I think about it more as how could her life benefit other people. That’s kind of her legacy for that.”

ð  Chad recognizes that participating in the interview does not offer any direct healing or comfort for his family. Instead, his motivation is rooted in giving his daughter’s life a broader purpose by allowing her story to continue having a positive impact on others even after her death. Furthermore, by speaking about his daughter, he hopes to prevent Hallie from being forgotten or reduced to a statistic in news coverage, instead preserving her identity as a full, individual life. Chad explains that by opening up their private, “empty” space to the public, he wants people to truly feel the depth of grief and loss, rather than treating gun violence as an abstract or purely political issue.

For the Scruggs family, sharing their experience becomes a way to let Hallie’s life “benefit other people” by encouraging empathy, reflection, and awareness that could lead to change, rather than seeking any personal advantage.

 

(Steve Hartman, the journalist): “I want the project to remind people that these are our children. That these were your children. These could be your children………………… I wish we could transport all Americans to stand in one of those bedrooms just for a few minutes. Then we’d be a different America.”

ð  Hartman hopes to promote emotional appeal to confront widespread indifference toward gun violence in America. He suggests that making the tragedy personal—by showing the preserved, empty bedrooms of children who were killed—encourages viewers to empathize, acknowledge lost potential, and fully grasp the depth of grief, which could ultimately reshape how the United States responds to school shootings. He is trying to reframe victims not as distant statistics, but as shared losses, challenging the idea that such tragedies only affect “other” families.

He emphasizes the symbolic weight of a child’s untouched room—filled with personal items, unfulfilled hopes, and a “brutal quiet”—as a powerful representation of what has been taken away. Hartman believes that direct exposure to the physical remnants of these interrupted lives could break through emotional numbness and inspire a stronger national response to school shootings. In short, the project follows families whose children were killed in school shootings, driven by a desire to push back against the rapid normalization of these tragedies.

 

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

My friends have encouraged me for years to get a gun and go to the nearby shooting range. Every time I hear this, I understand that their concern comes from a “stand your own ground” mindset focused on personal safety. However, I can’t ignore the discomfort I feel at the idea of having a gun stored in my home or kept in my car’s glove compartment.

As journalist Steve Hartman notes in the film, America has grown increasingly desensitized and emotionally numb to the recurring school shootings that happen year after year. Uvalde Elementary School is only about a 40-minute drive from where I live. The same year that devastating shooting occurred, I was invited by Texas A&M University to present a children’s book I had written for 4th and 5th graders and to speak with students and teachers from a local elementary school.

The children asked some of the most thoughtful questions I had ever received from students that age: “How brave do I need to be to achieve my dreams?”, “What if people pick on me for no reason?”, and “If I’m scared, should I stay quiet or say I’m scared?”. Hearing them made my thoughts spiral, and I felt an overwhelming sadness about what children are witnessing in our society—especially in places that should be the safest spaces for them, along with their homes.

As the photographer in the film also points out, it feels almost unreal that we are even having to discuss gun violence in this way. It is hard to believe this is part of our reality.