Raney Aronson-Rath, Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer of GBH’s FRONTLINE, has been to the Sundance Film Festival plenty of times. Her trip in January of 2026 was different, though.
For one, this was the first time the FRONTLINE team had premiered a film at a festival since the November 2025 launch of FRONTLINE FEATURES, the latest effort of FRONTLINE to expand the much-lauded program’s approach to cinematic journalism. Moreover, Aronson-Rath and the team were joined by the subject of their new documentary, One in a Million: a young Syrian woman named Israa who fled her war-torn home as a child to make a life in Germany with her family.
“We had been working on this film for a decade, so meeting [Israa] in person and experiencing Sundance and the power of filmmaking through her eyes was nothing short of magical,” Aronson-Rath says.
Introducing the documentary was an important next step for FRONTLINE FEATURES. The journey began around 2016, says Aronson-Rath, when FRONTLINE released its first Oscar-nominated film, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. By putting it into the world as a feature film — complete with a festival run, in-person screenings, and promotional events — the FRONTLINE team witnessed firsthand the public’s profound enthusiasm for and engagement with this style of cinematic documentary filmmaking.
“It was a lightbulb moment,” says Aronson-Rath. “I realized what FRONTLINE could be. Of course we would still have our show covering current affairs — which I love — but we could also take on these ambitious, seminal projects. I care deeply about getting these films out in the world; there isn’t anything better for a documentary than to be seen in a live setting with people talking about it.”
Next came 2019’s For Sama. Also Oscar-nominated and incredibly resonant with audiences, the film followed the story of a young mother in war-torn Syria grappling with the decision to flee with her daughter or stay and fight for her beloved home. “It really stuck with people,” she says, “because it was told in such personal terms.”
Capturing stories of global significance through the particular experiences of people and communities became the modus operandi for FRONTLINE’s feature-length films. This deepened focus on character and narrative, coupled with the same rigorous editorial review process that FRONTLINE applies to its current affairs investigative broadcasts, produces “incredibly popular films,” says Aronson-Rath, “which is particularly gratifying when you consider their length and often heavy subject matter.”
No film demonstrated this phenomenon more so than 2023’s 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov, which documented a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the city during the first weeks of Russia’s brutal invasion. Another Sundance premiere met with widespread acclaim and another Oscar nomination. Rarely has a documentary landed with such incisiveness and pertinence.
“20 Days in Mariupol taught us a lot about how to intersect cinematic storytelling with the news,” Aronson-Rath says. “It was during the production of that film that I decided it would be helpful for us to launch FRONTLINE FEATURES. I worked really hard on fundraising a budget that enabled us to give the film a year to live and breathe in the world before it was broadcast and streaming.”
The film went on to win the 2024 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature Film, and Chernov, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film. Its 2025 follow-up, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, proved similarly impactful, earning Chernov his second DGA Award in the same category. Formally innovative and utterly engrossing, 2000 Meters to Andriivka served as one final, resounding confirmation that Aronson-Rath and team had landed on a successful blueprint before the official launch of FRONTLINE FEATURES.
Following a film’s festival and screening run, FRONTLINE broadcasts, streams, and publishes the movie on the program’s YouTube channel. With a sophisticated YouTube operation — boasting more than 3.24 million subscribers and regularly eclipsing 1 million viewers on its short- and long-form content — FRONTLINE has dramatically increased its audience among viewers under 35 years old (from 3% of the program’s viewership to 37% since 2020). In fact, 20 Days in Mariupol has nearly 4 million views, and 2000 Meters to Andriivka already has almost 2 million.
We knew there would be a hunger for these feature films on YouTube, but FRONTLINE FEATURES are some of our most popular pieces on the platform. We’ve learned that young people love documentary films — in fact, they prefer it to formal television. I think the reason is the unique, authentic storytelling. So [FRONTLINE FEATURES] is part and parcel of us trying to reach across all generations.
Raney Aronson-Rath, Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer, FRONTLINE
Asked how the FRONTLINE team knows when a story will be best served by the format of a feature film, Aronson-Rath says multiple considerations come into play. “We look at the breadth of the story — if it warrants a 90-minute runtime and to be shown on a big screen. 20 Days in Mariupol started out as a broadcast episode of FRONTLINE, but when [FRONTLINE Editor and Producer] Michelle Mizner and [Director] Mstyslav Chernov sent me an early cut, I immediately called them and said, ‘This should be a feature,’ and they said, ‘Yeah, we had the same idea.’”
“Another thing we weigh,” continues Aronson-Rath, “is whether the public needs to see something right away, or if this story will leave a more lasting impression by getting the benefit of a full rollout for a feature-length film. For Mariupol, we felt we weren’t holding back important journalism because there was already so much coverage of the war in Ukraine.”
Going forward, FRONTLINE FEATURES will produce two to three films a year. By the time the films are broadcast in the fall, they will have premiered at a major festival and been screened hundreds of times across the globe. With the support of the newly formed FRONTLINE FEATURES Advisory Council, largely composed of experienced journalists, producers, and people in the film industry who happen to be avid FRONTLINE fans, Aronson-Rath and team are better equipped to strategize around future opportunities, as well as fund and promote films. FRONTLINE, of course, has the benefit of nearly fifty years of renowned documentary filmmaking, so directors are quick to reach out to them with ideas. Or as Aronson-Rath puts it, “We love filmmakers, and they love us, too.”
After a decade’s worth of development, Aronson-Rath and team are confident they’ve struck a chord with FRONTLINE FEATURES, producing cinematic journalism that resonates with and animates something in the audience. “We’re trying to transport you. That’s all we do as filmmakers, every day.”
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FRONTLINE FEATURES’s latest film, One in a Million, will be available for audiences in the fall. Tune in to FRONTLINE on Tuesdays at 9pm on GBH 2, watch past episodes (dating back to 1983) here, and check out the FRONTLINE YouTube channel.
