Hollywood Ventures Group Joins Vatican-Produced Oscar Contender 'Green Lava'
Hollywood Ventures Group has come on board 'Green Lava', a short documentary from the Vatican, as a strategic producing partner. Variety reported the move on 2 November 2026.
The film is a little over half an hour long. At 39 minutes, it is a documentary short, the category for non-fiction films of under 40 minutes. It was directed by Lia Beltrami and Ali Mahir Aksu, and it follows Giacomo Mattivi, a 22-year-old Italian man who lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic condition that weakens the muscles over time.
Mattivi is from Baselga di Piné, a village in the province of Trento in northern Italy. Vatican News has followed his story, and the film was made by Emotions to Generate Change with Vatican News, Radio Vaticana and Vatican Media.
The Vatican is the first to submit a film for Oscar consideration in the 97-year history of the Academy Awards. Variety first reported that submission in September 2026. To qualify, the film held an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run from 18 to 24 September at the Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills, California. America Magazine reported that the film is competing for the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.
The new partner brings a team with Hollywood experience. Hollywood Ventures Group was founded by Glenn S. Gainor and Sandy Climan. Gainor is a former Amazon MGM Studios executive. Gainor and Climan, along with Nelly Kim and Nabeel Laher, have joined John Shufeldt as executive producers on the film.
Short documentaries rarely attract outside producers at this stage, so the arrangement stands out. It also gives the film a second group of people to help take it to audiences and voters. Variety described the partnership as strategic.
What comes next has not been announced. The Academy has not yet revealed its shortlist for the documentary short category, and the ceremony falls in the new year.
