The New York Times Op-Docs acquires ‘Listen’

The New York Times Op-Docs has acquired the documentary short film "Listen" by filmmaker Taliesin Black-Brown. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary Short. It has gone on to play at festivals, including AFI Fest, BFI London Film Festival and SCAD Savannah Film Festival and will soon be playing in New York as part of the DOC NYC: Short List program and in San Francisco as part of SFFILM's Doc Stories lineup.

"Listen," directed and produced by Taliesin Black-Brown, executive produced and produced by Greg M. Moga III and Bray's Run Productions, and produced by Academy Award winner Sam Davis, takes audiences into the world of Alaskan sound recordist Hank Lentfer, who is taking care of his mother as she slips into dementia.

"After a few months tromping through the Alaska rainforest with Hank Lentfer, I began to remember I was so much bigger than my ego. 'It's spiritually and ecologically impossible not to be a part of this,' Hank would say, gesturing to a sun-dappled sea alive with birds, seals and whales. 'We are all this beautiful.' I'm in awe and a little giggly that The New York Times has embraced this film and its simple message. As a culture, it seems we are hungry to remember how to listen, to hear a more beautiful story," Black-Brown said.

"'Listen' began with an idea I had to use Hank's extraordinary work recording the natural world to explore the massive loss of bird populations," said Moga. "As Tal developed the film, it evolved into something more intimate and human, and in many ways more beautiful. I'm incredibly proud of what the film became and thrilled that Op-Docs will bring it to a wider audience."

"With extraordinary visuals and sound and a striking economy of dialogue, 'Listen' makes the global climate crisis feel profoundly personal, deeply universal and devastatingly emotional. It's a cinematic gem that is an extraordinary addition to the Op-Docs catalog," said Alexandra Garcia, Op-Docs's executive producer.

"Listen" joins eight other films on Op-Docs's 2026 slate of awards contenders, including "The Revolution Against Death" by acclaimed filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, which premiered at the Tampere Film Festival; "Living with a Visionary," winner of the Short Film Jury Award for Animation at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival; "The Tuners," winner of a Silver Dragon at the 2026 Krakow Film Festival; and "A Wolf in the Suburbs," which joins three other Op-Docs on the IDA Shortlist this year.

About the Filmmaker

Taliesin Black-Brown is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker based in Seattle. His work explores the relationship between humans and the natural world through immersive, poetic storytelling.

His short documentary, "I Am the Nature", shot on 16 mm film in the Ecuadorean Amazon, follows Achuar leader Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat as he reflects on the tension between Western technology and ancestral ways of life. The film premiered at DOC NYC and screened at Mountainfilm, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, Seattle International Film Festival and numerous others. It received a UNESCO Sustainability and Awareness Award, was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick and was featured by NOWNESS and Colossal Magazine.

About Bray's Run Productions

Bray's Run Productions is an independent film company developing and producing cinematic documentary and fiction projects with filmmakers around the world. Its work explores culture, history, the natural world and the human experience, with a focus on visually distinctive, artist-led stories that might otherwise go overlooked. Bray's Run collaborates with acclaimed filmmakers, networks,and distributors to bring ambitious independent work to audiences worldwide.

About Op-Docs

Op-Docs, The New York Times's award-winning short documentary film series, features works by both renowned and emerging filmmakers. The collection of more than 450 short films have sparked global conversations, influenced national policies and garnered an array of industry distinctions, including Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards and an Oscar. Alexandra Garcia is the series' executive producer, Mahalia Cohen is the senior producer and Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo is the producer.

Press Contacts

Caroline Challe / [email protected]