“Prime Minister,” the HBO original documentary about popular New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern, was named best documentary at Thursday’s Documentary Emmy Awards. The doc, directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary.
Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films and Madison Wells are behind “Prime Minister,” which also comes from Dark Doris and Divergent Pictures. The win came on the third night of an epic week of Emmy events held in New York by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. CNBC Names Ken Brown Managing Editor of Digital and Editorial Strategy Versant Q1 Sees Profit Slip On Revenue Dip, Corporate Costs; Non-TV Operations Show Strength
“Have I Got News For You” star Michael Ian Black to host the documentary categories of the News & Documentary Emmys on Thursday, while his colleague Amber Ruffin hosted the news categories on Wednesday. Ruffin’s and Black’s “Have I Got News For You” colleague Roy Wood Jr. hosted the Sports Emmys on Tuesday. All three nights were held at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York.On Thursday, Nat Geo and Netflix tied for most wins, at six each, followed by PBS with five. Other major winners included Outstanding Historical Documentary for “Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On,” Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary for “Tiler Peck: Suspending Time” and National Geographic’s “Secrets of the Penguins” won Outstanding Nature Documentary. Popular on Variety
Presenters included Serena Davies (National Geographic, NASA), producer Stephanie Jenkins, Cynthia Lopez (CEO of New York Women in Film & Television), Tiler Peck (NYC Ballet, “Tiler Peck: Suspending Time”) and Simon Schama (“Simon Schama’s Story of Us”). Christina Ruffini (Bloomberg “This Weekend”) moderated discussions with nominees about documentary filmmaking throughout the ceremony.
“Throughout history, there have been those who have joined together to keep doors closed. To keep government and policymaking away from public view.” said NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp. “But then there are those who band together to open doors. Who ask tough questions and bring the public inside. Tonight we celebrate their tenacity and commitment.”
Also during the evening, Emmy-winning documentarian Sam Pollard received the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir.
Originally reported by Variety.