The first Peabody Awards of 2019 were announced today, with eight documentaries being honored and Kartemquin Films (Minding the Gap, Hoops Dreams) set for an Institutional Award for its “commitment to unflinching documentary filmmaking and telling an American history rooted in social justice and the stories of the marginalized.”
The docus set as part of the 2019 Peabody 30 — six of which aired on public broadcasting stations — are HBO’s A Dangerous Son; Hulu’s Minding the Gap; and PBS‘ Independent Lens: Dolores, Independent Lens: The Judge, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, POV: the Apology, The Facebook Dilemma and The Jazz Ambassadors. Read details of the honorees below.
Other Peabody winners will be announced in the coming days: Entertainment/Children’s & Youth on April 18 and News/Radio & Podcast/Web/Public Service programming on April 23. All the 2019 Peabody recipients will be honored during a ceremony May 18 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.
Here is more on the docuementary Peabody winners:
Watch on Deadline
A Dangerous Son
HBO Documentary Films and Moxie Firecracker Films
HBO
A view into the myriad challenges parents face when raising children with mental health issues, the film shines a light on the link between mental illness and recent mass school shootings.
Independent Lens: Dolores
A Carlos Santana Production, in association with 5 Stick Films, and The Dolores Huerta Film Project, LLC
PBS
An exhilarating portrait of activist and community organizer Dolores Huerta that serves as a timely reminder of the power of collective action in service of social justice.
Independent Lens: The Judge
A co-production of Three Judges LLC, Idle Wild Films Inc., and Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
PBS
Filmmaker Erika Cohn chronicles the day-to-day challenges of the Middle East’s first female Sharia law judge, Kholoud Faqih, offering a rare glimpse into an oft-misunderstood culture and faith through the eyes of a strong Muslim woman, and demystifying fallacies around both subjects.
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart
Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project, LLC in co-production with Independent Television Service and Black Public Media in association with The Film Posse, Chiz Schultz Inc. and American Masters PicturesPBS/WNET-TV
A tribute to Lorraine Hansberry’s life and career as an essayist, journalist and playwright, and fearless advocate for social justice, the film mines her rich archive of writing, diaries, letters, and personal effects, resulting in an intimate and powerful portrait of an innovative artist and radical activist.
Minding the Gap
Hulu presents in association with Kartemquin, American Documentary, POV and ITVS
Hulu
Through a patient, observational lens and devastating interviews, filmmaker Bing Liu lays bare the pain and eventual hope he and his skateboarding friends endure despite the challenges they face in this heartfelt presentation of the transition from boyhood to manhood.
POV: The Apology
National Film Board of Canada, American Documentary, POV
PBS
Writer-director Tiffany Hsiung follows the personal journeys of three surviving “comfort women,” forced into institutionalized sexual slavery during World War II, as they seize this last chance to set future generations on a course for reconciliation, healing, and justice.
The Facebook Dilemma
Frontline
PBS
This in-depth investigation into the Silicon Valley giant reveals a corporation that willfully ignored warnings and shirked responsibility as it reveled in global success, exploiting user data and sowing social and political unrest in the process.
The Jazz Ambassadors
Thirteen Productions LLC, Antelope South Ltd., Normal Life Pictures, in association with the BBC and ZDF in collaboration with Arte
PBS
A momentous cultural achievement that looks at the important contribution of jazz music and musicians to Cold War diplomacy, American race relations, emerging black identities, and newly independent third world nations around the world. The film is also an inspiring tribute to jazz masters Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Dave Brubeck.
Kartemquin Films
Founded in 1966 in Chicago as a nonprofit collective, Kartemquin has served as a home for filmmakers to develop their craft and produce films that promote dialogue and democracy. Driven by the belief that documentaries have an obligation to examine and critique society through the stories of real people, Kartemquin brought us the seminal film Hoop Dreams (1994), as well as this year’s Minding the Gap. Based outside of the major production hubs on the coasts, Kartemquin has fostered a community of socially responsible filmmakers, nurturing emerging talent through a commitment to a collaborative, mentorship-based model of filmmaking practice. Today, they have formalized their filmmaker development programs to train young documentarians in the Midwest, while acting as a leading advocacy organization for the entire field on issues such as fair use and defending public funding and broadcasts of documentary films.