An HBO documentary about former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has been named best documentary at the Documentary Emmy Awards.
The documentary, titled Prime Minister and 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 backed the 1h 41m documentary.
The win came on the third night of Emmy events held in New York by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Other nominees in the "outstanding politics and government documentary" category included Bodyguard of Lies, The Dark Money Game, Hollywoodgate and The Making Of A Japanese.
The academy’s head of documentary Emmys, Christine Chin said the nominees showed an impressive range of stories.
"These films challenge perspectives, elevate underrepresented voices, and demonstrate the power of documentary filmmaking to inform, engage, and inspire audiences worldwide."
Ardern’s husband Clarke Gayford, who was also the cinematographer and producer of the documentary, reflected on the filming experience after finding out about the Emmy nominations.
"Arguably, that period of our lives was some of the toughest. It was awful in places, and for one reason or another, I decided to pick up a camera and film parts of it.
"Well done to the team. Just I'm bewildered and baffled – it's incredible."
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