Erika Cohn’s The Judge and Bing Liu’s Minding The Gap are among the documentary winners of the 78th annual Peabody Awards.
The Peabody Awards board of jurors revealed Tuesday (April 16) the eight winners in the documentary category for films released in 2018.
Cohn’s The Judge offers an intimate portrait of the Middle East’s first female Sharia law judge, Kholoud Faqih, while Liu’s Minding the Gap follows three young friends growing up in America’s Rust Belt as they navigate the challenges of adolescence.
Also taking home Peabody hardware are Liz Garbus’s A Dangerous Son, which looks at the parental challenges of raising kids with mental health issues; Peter Bratt’s Dolores, a film about Chicana activist and community organizer Dolores Huerta; and Tracy Heather Strain’s Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, a tribute to writer Lorraine Hansberry’s life and career.
Additional documentary winners were Tiffany Hsiung’s The Apology, which follows the personal stories of three survivors of forced sexual slavery during World War II; PBS Frontline’s The Facebook Dilemma, which looks at the unregulated influence of social media on democracy; and Hugo Berkeley’s The Jazz Ambassadors, which tells the story of when America deployed a number of jazz legends to fight on the frontlines of the Cold War.
The board also named storied Chicago-headquartered production house Kartemquin Films winner of its Institutional Award for the company’s commitment to telling stories of American history rooted in social justice and the stories of those on the margins of society.
The annual Peabody winners will be celebrated at an event on May 18 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, hosted by investigative reporter Ronan Farrow.
The complete documentary winners are listed below, with information provided by the Peabody Awards.
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.
Dolores
‘Independent Lens’; A Carlos Santana Production, in association with 5 Stick Films, and The Dolores Huerta Film Projecrt, 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.
The Judge
‘Independent Lens’; 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 (CPB) (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 Pictures (PBS/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/PBS)
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.
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.