The HBO original documentary Prime Minister, which explores the life and leadership of former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, was named Best Documentary at Thursday’s Documentary Emmy Awards in New York. Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, the film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary. The documentary is a co-production of Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films and Madison Wells, alongside Dark Doris and Divergent Pictures.
The win capped the third night of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ weeklong Emmy events, which took place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. Across Thursday’s ceremony, National Geographic and Netflix tied for the most wins with six each, while PBS followed with five. Other major winners included Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On for Outstanding Historical Documentary, Tiler Peck: Suspending Time for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary, and Secrets of the Penguins for Outstanding Nature Documentary.
Thursday’s ceremony was hosted in part by Have I Got News For You star Michael Ian Black, who handled the documentary categories, while his colleague Amber Ruffin hosted the news categories on Wednesday. Roy Wood Jr., also from the same program, hosted the Sports Emmys on Tuesday. The three events were presented over consecutive nights in New York.
NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp used his remarks to praise documentary makers for bringing hidden issues into public view and challenging efforts to keep government and policymaking out of sight. During the evening, Emmy-winning filmmaker Sam Pollard received the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by Geeta Gandbhir.
Beyond Prime Minister, several other documentaries earned top honors. Projecting Protest won Outstanding Short Documentary. Lost in the Jungle won Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary. The Ride Ahead took Outstanding Social Issue Documentary. Critical Incident: A Death at the Border won Outstanding Investigative Documentary. Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media earned Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary. The Strike won Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary. Underdogs won Outstanding Writing: Documentary, while Turning Point: The Vietnam War won Outstanding Research: Documentary. 2000 Meters to Andriivka won Outstanding Direction: Documentary.
In the craft categories, Heart of the Emperors — Secrets of the Penguins won Outstanding Cinematography, Cover-Up won Outstanding Editing, In Waves and War won Outstanding Graphic Design, and Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey won Outstanding Music Composition. Underdogs also won Outstanding Sound, while Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders took Outstanding Lighting Direction. Songs From the Hole won Outstanding Art Direction, and Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember won Outstanding Promotional Announcement. In the regional category, Blue – The Life and Art of George Rodrigue was named Outstanding Regional Documentary.
