All the Empty Rooms

2025 0h 34m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 65

Documentary

Synopsis

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A journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Steve Hartman
Self
Meryl Hartman
Self
Bryan Muehlberger
Self
Gloria Cazares
Self
Javier Cazares
Self
Lou Bopp
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joshua Seftel
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

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Tight 34-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joshua Seftel, shot by Matt Porwoll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Erin Casper shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Steve Hartman and Meryl Hartman and Bryan Muehlberger carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt37798645 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joshua Seftel directs. Matt Porwoll behind the camera. Erin Casper cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 34-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Released last year.
3Directed by Joshua Seftel, shot by Matt Porwoll. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Erin Casper shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Steve Hartman and Meryl Hartman and Bryan Muehlberger carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt37798645 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Matt Porwoll
Editing: Erin Casper
Sound: Peter Albrechtsen
Runtime: 34 min · 0h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: All the Empty Rooms (2025)

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Joshua Seftel

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-09-17
★ 7/10
I was quite anxious about watching this short feature, uncertain about what I thought might be an almost pruriently macabre job for correspondent Steve Hartman. He is usually the amiable news reporter associated with the more light-hearted "and, finally..." item at the end of a bulletin, but now with his photographer friend Lou Bopp he has embarked on a project to photograph the bedrooms of all of the children slain by gun crime at school. The number of victims has almost quadrupled in recent years, but with only a couple left to do we follow them to the Blackwell, Scruggs and Cazares families where we sit down with their parents and watch some of their home videos and reminisce about their talented and mischievous children before entering bedrooms that in many ways are shrines, untouched since the fatefal days that robbed their parents and siblings of Dominic, Hallie and Jackie (amongst others). It's all fairly heart-rending stuff and with only a limited narration to keep us informed, it proves to be a remarkably natural - even cathartic - thing for both the two men and for the affected families who show an astonishing resilience when talking about the loss of their very young children whilst ostensibly safe at school. It's very humanity is what makes it a tough watch; the fact that these are real people with real lives still to lead and other children to care for is writ gently, but largely, and this is a poignantly affecting half hour of uncomfortable but ultimately quite celebratory filmmaking.

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