Listen Wins Best Documentary Short at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
We are overjoyed to share that Listen has won the Best Documentary Short award at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.
The award was announced on June 11th as part of Tribeca's full competition results, alongside feature winners including "Cotton Fever," "Here I'm Alive," and "Summer of Three." You can read the complete list of 2026 winners as covered by Variety.
The jury's words say it better than we could:
"Aptly titled, our selection for Best Documentary Short is a technical masterpiece. It expertly uses the marriage of arresting sound design and beautiful cinematography to force the viewer to stop, listen, and consider our mortality and relationship with the natural world. The dedication to craftsmanship without sacrificing a personal and heartful narrative elevates it into reverberating far beyond its runtime." ~ 2026 Tribeca Festival Jury (published by The Hollywood Reporter)
For a film this quietly built — 14 minutes of immersive sound, stillness, and love — to be recognized on one of the most prestigious stages in independent cinema is something we will carry with us for a long time.
Thanks to the Bray's Run Team
This award belongs to every person who brought Listen into the world. Our deepest gratitude to:
Hank Lentfer — for letting us in, to listen to his story.
Taliesin Black-Brown, director and producer, whose vision, patience, and singular sensitivity to both his subject and his craft made this film possible.
Greg M. Moga III, executive producer, for the trust and resources to see it through.
Sam Davis, producer, for holding it all together.
Mack Fisher, cinematographer, for finding the visual language to match the silence.
Ben Kaplan, editor, for knowing when to cut and when to stay.
Calvin Pia, sound design and mix, for honoring a film about listening with the care it deserved.
Mikey Pehanich, colorist, for the light.
Eric Forman, consulting producer, for the perspective.
As Tribeca festival director Cara Cusumano said of this year's honorees, the winning films "embody the spirit of Tribeca: fearless work that crosses borders, expands the form, and reveals the power of storytelling to uncover humanity in unexpected places." We are proud that Listen was counted among them.
About The Film
A film about silence, memory, and the world we are losing
At its heart, Listen is a film about two forms of disappearance happening at once — and the quiet act of bearing witness to both. Set against the vast, protected wilderness of Alaska, the film follows Hank Lentfer, a field recordist who has devoted his life to capturing the sounds of the natural world. As Lentfer tends to his mother in the final stages of dementia, he confronts a profound parallel: just as her voice grows distant, so too does the wilderness around him fall silent.
Through long, immersive takes and minimal narration, Listen becomes something rare — a film you experience as much as you watch.
Director Taliesin Black-Brown crafted the film as a sensory immersion — one that asks viewers to slow down, open their ears, and sit with difficulty and beauty in the same breath. It is a tender, unhurried portrait of love, caregiving, and what it means to truly pay attention to a world in the midst of change.
Press Kit For media, festival programmers, and distribution partners, the full Listen electronic press kit is available here.
For additional press, partnership, or festival inquiries, please reach out at info@braysrunproductions.com.