Directed by Alex Heller (The Year Between) following her feature film directorial debut, Debaters is a comedy short film telling the story of high school debaters and their unqualified adult judges played by Succession’s J. Smith-Cameron and Oscar-winning director Kenneth Lonergan. The film is set to have its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Debaters stars Sripadh Puligilla, J. Smith-Cameron, and Kenneth Lonergan.

Synopsis

Congressional debate attracts some of the most brilliant high school students in the country, and the most unqualified adults to judge. This is Anubhav’s first tournament and he’s terrified of speaking. When a bitter judge puts him on the spot about minimum wage, he must prove himself in front of a bloodthirsty chamber of debaters.

“During my 20s, I worked as a judge at high school debate tournaments in the Chicago suburbs,
tagging along with my dad who was a coach. I became obsessed with congressional debate-partially because I was feeling like a burnout at this point in my life, and was in awe of how brilliant and ambitious the young debaters were,” says director Alex Heller about the inspiration of the film in her director’s statement. “The tournaments were electric, and I often thought, “this is what some people feel when they watch sports, or movies about sports.” I’ve known for years that I wanted to make a movie following a congressional debate team and their unhinged judges to a national championship.”

Official Trailer

Watch the official teaser trailer for Debaters.