2026 EMMY WINNER:
Projecting Protest
2026 EMMY WINNER: OUTSTANDING SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Projecting Protest
Light projection as a form of protest, what some call “temporary graffiti,” has been on the rise over the past decade. Yet American law remains largely silent on it, fueling an ongoing debate over whether it truly qualifies as “free speech.”
Projecting Protest follows activists across the political spectrum who wield light as a tool for dissent, projecting bold messages onto buildings and monuments in real time to challenge authority. Their actions push the boundaries of traditional protest and raise age-old questions about free speech in a digital era.
Projecting Protest — Winner of the 2026 Emmy for Outstanding Short Documentary — follows the rise of light projection as a protest tactic, going on the ground with leftists and neo-Nazis, unlikely practitioners of the same medium — raising thought-provoking questions about free speech's new frontier.
Light projection as a form of protest, what some call “temporary graffiti,” has been on the rise over the past decade.
Yet it remains largely unregulated by American law, spurring an ongoing debate over whether it truly qualifies as “free speech.”
publicity
→ Watch the Emmy acceptance speech below
→ Watch the Emmy acceptance
speech below
Read & Listen
→ Read Guilford College’s interview with Tom on how he went from Guilford classrooms to an Emmy-winning film about protest in the digital age.
→ Listen to an episode of GBH Boston's Culture Show, where they interview Tom about Projecting Protest. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
More projects
