Debut and first awards (2001)

Released in early 2001 and initially making the rounds on the American film festival circuit, in March 2001 Artists and Orphans won the Audience Choice Award for documentaries at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.^[4] The Lake Arrowhead International Film Festival in Lake Arrowhead, California screened the film in May 2001, with the film winning the Inspiration Award for Best Documentary.^[11] In June 2001, the film screened at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.^[12] Also that month the film won the audience award for Best Short Film at the Florida Film Festival.^[13] Artists and Orphans played at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July 2001,^[2] and in September it screened at the Boston Film Festival, with the Boston Phoenix describing it as the "standout" in its round of screenings.^[14] At the Docside Film Festival in San Antonio in April 2002, the film was nominated for Best Feature Documentary.^[15]

Oscar nomination (2001-2002)

The film was nominated for an Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Subject.^[16][17][18] Also nominated were Sing! and Thoth, with the latter winning the award in February 2002.^[5] On March 18, 2001, the film was one of two runners up for Best Documentary at the Valleyfest Film Festival^[19] in Knoxville, Tennessee.^[20] In March 2002, the press reported that Rosie O'Donnell was seeking to remove her narration from the production after accusations of racial discrimination and homophobia (including the sanctioning of conversion therapy) by Gans and the filmmakers, which they dismissed as "inflammatory" and "without foundation."^[21]

However, Gans' Fourth Way-inspired esoteric initiatory order (known colloquially among its members as "The Work" or "School" before incorporating as the Odyssey Study Group at the turn of the century)^[22] has since been deemed a "cult" by former member Spencer Schneider, who corroborated the previous accusations in Manhattan Cult Story, his 2022 memoir. Rick Ross, a New Jersey-based cult expert and lecturer who helped deprogram Branch Davidians in the mid-'90s, said the group is a cult and excludes members of the LGBT community. "They must renounce their sexual preference and work toward becoming heterosexual," said Ross, who said he spent hours talking with former members. On April 22, 2002, the film screened on WE tv as part of an evening of programming meant to raise awareness for children.^[7] It was screened in the Czech Republic on April 23, 2002, at the Olomouc Animation Film Festival,^[10] and was also included in documentaries for sale at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.^[8] At the Crested Butte Reel Fest in central Colorado, the film won the Illumination Award for the film,^[6] and Artists and Orphans also tied for second place for audience choice award.^[6]