You open YouTube. Maybe to watch a cooking video. A news story. A cat video. You keep scrolling. Short videos blasted to you from the void. Bright captions. AI graphics. But one catches your attention. It’s not like the rest. It’s intentional. Made with care. A three-minute video about a museum, an old typewriter, or even making sushi.
If the algorithm is kind enough, it will recommend something to you from You Are Here, the new series of short films independently written, filmed, edited, and narrated by Providence-based filmmaker, former Hey Rhody Media Co. editor and staff writer, and multi-hyphenate Robert Isenberg, 2025 winner of Block Island Film Festival’s Best Documentary Short Director for his work on The Painter. “Unlike almost every blog or independent or podcast or other format that I’ve ever tried, this is one that I just have a thousand more ideas for,” says Isenberg, about his new round of short films. “It’s a locomotive that feels like it could go on indefinitely.”
Available to watch on the YouTube channel of the same name, You Are Here is a set of micro-documentaries, covering everything from matryoshka dolls to Ninigret Park. “I’m into human interest stories, I’m into really weird topics, kind of niche-y topics,” says Isenberg about his writing, seen in countless outlets including Explore.com. “You Are Here ended up being kind of an excuse to indulge a lot of the stories that either are not newsy or just don’t have a traditional hook.”
While he always knew the types of subjects he wanted to cover in the series, figuring out his approach took a little longer. In a way, it’s the project he’s been preparing for his whole life. He grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, experimenting with his parents’ camcorder. Now he would be happy to find himself balancing a tripod on his foot while trying to overexpose rice to give it a dream-like glow à la the Terrence Malick films he loves so much. The voice you hear narrating a piece on Battleship Cove belongs to the same performer who spent college writing theatrical monologues and childhood playing Renfield on stage. And it’s the journalism student who felt so engaged and invested reading pieces written in the second person who thought to do the same for You Are Here. In an era of thoughtless content creation, every element of Isenberg’s bite-sized documentaries is not only chosen carefully but personally.
As for the name? “One day in late 2024, it just hit me that the phrase ‘you are here’ is one I always like to see on maps, and it’s just so grounding and it’s so comforting.” Even the choice of font for Y.A.H. was selected to mimic that of a hand-drawn map. And in many ways, each installment is like a hand-drawn map, crafted with a great intentionality that reveals the unique penmanship of its creator. He does not prescribe a destination for you, but instead lays out routes he hopes will lead you to a new experience, whether it be a visit to a botanical center, a walk in the snow, or simply making sushi in your kitchen. Learn more at YouTube.com/@YouAreHereDocs
Robert Isenberg will appear at the Block Island Film Festival on May 28 to discuss How To Write A Travel Guide, a short film where he reflects on journeys, responsibilities, and the writing process. Learn more at BlockIslandFilmFestival.org
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