All the Empty Rooms Confronts the Human Cost of Gun Violence Through Stories Left Behind

Directed by Joshua Seftel, All the Empty Rooms approaches the national conversation around gun violence through an intimate and deeply personal lens. Rather than focusing on headlines or statistics, the documentary follows reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they travel across the United States to preserve the bedrooms of children whose lives were lost to school shootings. Through this cross-country journey, the film transforms private spaces into powerful memorials, inviting audiences to reflect on absence, memory, and the urgent need for collective action.

A Journey Across America Marked by Memory

As Hartman and Bopp visit families in different communities, each room becomes a quiet testimony to a life interrupted. Preserved exactly as the children left them, these bedrooms hold everyday details — posters on walls, unfinished homework, favorite toys — that reveal individuality beyond tragedy. The filmmakers allow these spaces to speak for themselves, creating moments of stillness that contrast sharply with the public debates that often surround gun violence. By centering personal stories rather than political arguments, the film encourages viewers to confront the emotional reality behind an ongoing national crisis.

Storytelling That Moves Beyond Headlines

Joshua Seftel’s direction emphasizes empathy and observation, allowing conversations with families to unfold naturally. The documentary highlights how grief continues long after media attention fades, capturing parents and loved ones who seek to preserve memory while advocating for change. Through Hartman’s reporting and Bopp’s photography, the project becomes both an act of remembrance and a call to acknowledge the scale of loss experienced across communities. The film’s structure reflects a shared journey, one that gradually reveals how individual stories collectively form a larger portrait of a country grappling with unresolved trauma.

Conversations That Extend the Film’s Impact

In addition to the documentary itself, a series of discussions surrounding All the Empty Rooms expands the conversation further. Actor Julianne Moore joins director Joshua Seftel, film participants Gloria and Javier Cazares, and Steve Hartman in a dialogue exploring grief, advocacy, and storytelling. Additional conversations feature journalist Gayle King speaking with Seftel and Hartman, as well as filmmaker Lisa Cortés joining Seftel alongside cinematographer Matt Porwoll and editors Stephen Maing and Erin Casper to discuss the creative process behind the film. These discussions offer deeper insight into both the emotional and artistic challenges of telling such a sensitive story.

A Film That Asks Viewers to Pause and Reflect

At its heart, All the Empty Rooms is less about documenting tragedy than about honoring presence through remembrance. By focusing on the spaces children once occupied, the film quietly underscores the magnitude of what has been lost while urging audiences to consider what responsibility looks like moving forward. The result is a documentary that lingers not through shock, but through empathy — reminding viewers that behind every statistic is a room that should never have been left empty.