Park City Film Festival presents award-winning short ‘The Boys and the Bees’

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Film Festival presents “The Boys and the Bees” as part of their inaugural festival. The film won its first award in January: the 2026 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award in the Short Film: Nonfiction category.

Arielle Knight, the film director, received funding from the Untitled Filmmaker Organization, which gives time, space, and money to filmmakers at under-resourced career stages to create two short films. “The Boys and the Bees” is the first of these films.

“I first encountered the Ray family through their Instagram account — glimpses of a father teaching his sons to move through the world with courage and patience,” recalls Knight. “In their rhythms, I recognized echoes of my own childhood in Georgia — days spent wandering through woods holding that duality — of wonder and weight, of refuge and history — this is the heart of ‘The Boys and the Bees.’”

The film has gone on to win a whole series of awards this year:

**WINNER – 2026 Short Film Audience Award – Atlanta Film Festival**
**WINNER – Best Documentary Short & Best of Fest – Nevada City Film Festival 2026**
**WINNER – Best Documentary Short – Ouray Film Festival 2026**
**WINNER – Best Documentary Short – Salute Your Shorts 2026**
**WINNER – Best Documentary Short – BEYOND: The Cary Film Festival**

The film documents Eliza, Nehemiah, Carver, and Aaro Ray, who Knight followed over the course of a year. The film focuses on scenes that depict the family’s steps towards reclaiming a relationship with the land while acknowledging both the violent history and its importance in their journey towards self-determination. The family works as a team.

“The Rays’ commitment to land stewardship, to nurturing their sons’ sense of belonging, and to building something enduring for the next generation becomes, in this context, a radical act of care,” Knight said. “It is a gesture toward a more expansive representation of Black boys and men—curious, tender, playful, and unburdened by stereotypes. Ultimately, this film is an offering.”

She currently has no plans to turn the short film into a full-length feature but may consider returning to the story when the boys are adolescents to discover how the family’s hopes and plans played out.

The 19-minute film will show in the shorts block with “Teeth to the Wind” (51 min) on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. in Jim Santy Auditorium. Tickets are available online.

Knight is now finishing up her second short film, a hybrid, scripted documentary called “And Counting” about a family’s life after incarceration. Her goal is to have a long and sustainable career as a filmmaker. She considers nonfiction her first language in filmmaking but wants to continue to stretch. She believes just finishing a film is a win, and being able to see which parts of the film resonate with people is a gift.