'We Became Fragments' Wins Best Documentary, Qualifies for Oscars

"We Became Fragments," a Pulitzer Center-supported film, won Best Documentary at the LA Shorts Fest on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

The award qualified the 12-minute film for the Oscars. The film is one of nearly 80 that the Documentary section of the Academy will consider when drafting a shortlist of 10, which will later be narrowed to five official nominations.

The film follows Ibraheem, a Syrian teenager and refugee, through his first week of high school in Winnipeg, Canada. It's a story about loss, resilience, and one young man's identity as he adapts to a new country while his home is at war.

The co-directors of the film met while earning their masters at UC Berkeley's School of Journalism. Their work has been published in The Atlantic, PBS NewsHour, NPR and more. In 2016, the co-directors collaborated on "What It's Like to Leave Iraq for Life in America," which followed a refugee resettled in the Bay Area by the UN, and won a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society for Professional Journalists. 

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting in-depth engagement with underreported global affairs through our sponsorship of quality international journalism across all media platforms and a unique program of outreach and education to schools and universities.