Press
Prime Minister, the HBO/CNN 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.
The 47th News & Documentary Emmy Awards has concluded, with Madison Wells’ Prime Minister winning Best Documentary.
In the best documentary category, the nominees are Black Snow, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time, Life After, Love + War, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Prime Minister, Turning Point: The Vietnam War and Union.
Founder Gigi Pritzker and film and TV head Rachel Shane recall wooing former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and taking the film to Sundance: "There were people coming up to us afterward crying."
A roundtable discussion hosted by Abby Phillip will stream exclusively on CNN after the film’s debut.
Clarke Gayford, the husband of New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, picked up his camera after his wife was elected and captured incredible footage of moments big and small throughout her time in office. The resulting documentary, "Prime Minister," is in theaters June 13th and Ardern's memoir, "A Different Kind of Power," is available now.
The Right Honorable Dame Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister, led her nation through unprecedented challenges, implemented bold policies, and became the second leader in history to give birth in office, all while championing an inclusive and empathetic leadership style that changed global expectations of what a leader can be.