10/09/2025
“The Funeral Directors of Flight 232” Short Documentary Wins Dual Honors
ABILENE, TEXAS — October 2025 — The short documentary The Funeral Directors of Flight 232 earned two of the top honors at the 2025 Abilene Frontier Film Festival, taking home Best Documentary Short and Best Editing. The moving film, which recounts the remarkable story of United Airlines Flight 232 and the extraordinary acts of Iowa Funeral Directors and heroism that emerged from tragedy, was one of only three films at this year’s festival to receive multiple awards.
This documentary shared the events surrounding the 1989 plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa — a disaster that became a powerful testament to courage, teamwork, and human resilience. Through compelling interviews, archival footage, and sensitive storytelling, the documentary captures both the chaos and compassion of that day, focusing on how a state, a community and Iowa funeral directors came together and cared for the dead in what was at that time one of largest fatal events in aircraft history.
The filmmaking team Rob Davidson, Noah Williams and David Welch from Funeral Directors Life and Danielle Knapp, CEO of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association worked together to create a documentary that would show the other side of this tragic event and the humanity of our funeral directors. The emotional clarity and careful craftsmanship were the key factors in winning the award for Best Documentary Short, recognizing the deep respect for the people behind the headlines. The Best Editing award recognized the seamless rhythm and pacing that allowed such a complex event to unfold with both intensity and grace. This was a collaborative effort driven by a desire to honor the last responders.
“While this film recognizes and honors the last responders we continue to remember and honor those that died, the families left behind, the first responders in Sioux City, and the funeral directors that cared for the families as their loved ones arrived home in various parts of the United States. This tragedy spanned the entire country,” said Danielle. “To see it recognized in this way means a lot not just to us that collaborated to tell the story, but to everyone who was part of Flight 232’s legacy. We wanted to tell their story with honesty, dignity, and respect for funeral directors everywhere. What began as a simple idea to recognize those directors grew into an incredible documentary brought to life by Rob Davidson, Noah Williams, and David Welch from Funeral Directors Life. I shared my vision with Rob, gathered the funeral directors, and from there, he and his team made it happen. What you see on screen is entirely their creativity and artistry.”
The editing team, whose work earned one of the evening’s most competitive awards, was commended for blending historical accuracy with emotional storytelling — a balance that kept audiences deeply engaged throughout the film’s concise runtime.
Rob Davidson shared “The film’s recognition reinforces the lasting power of its message: that even amid disaster, compassion and courage can unite people in extraordinary ways. Stories like this remind us of what we’re capable of amongst tragedy and the 125+ funeral directors that gave their time and resources to care for the dead did so without need of accolades. This film was a way to say thank you and share their stories that have been untold for over 35 years.”
The Funeral Directors of Flight 232 embodies what documentary storytelling does best, it preserves our collective humanity and a part of history that should never be forgotten.
