Documentary on Dame Jacinda Ardern wins award at Sundance Film Festival

The team behind the documentary Prime Minister aimed to show what it looks and feels like in leadership. Now it’s won a prestigious award.

American filmmakers Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s 102-minute documentary about Dame Jacinda Ardern’s five years in office has been praised by many critics for highlighting the vulnerability of leadership. On Friday it won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, United States.

The film, which uses home footage taken by husband Clarke Gayford, who also worked on the project as a producer and director of photography, won in the World Cinema Documentary category.

Dame Jacinda Ardern and Marlee Matlin during Cinema Cafe 2 at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Photo / Stephanie Dunn

In an interview with ABC4 film critic and festival correspondent Patrick Beatty, Ardern said that, ultimately, others made this story.

“I simply did a job, it was captured and then others had crafted it and put it out for the public to see ... you see highs and you see lows,” Ardern told Beatty.

She added that despite moments where she had to “look away” or “cringe at myself”, Ardern felt it was still “worth putting out there”.

“There’s a very rare opportunity, I think, to share what it looks to be in leadership, how it feels to be in leadership.

“And we need to humanise the role ... I think that we also need to show that empathy and kindness – there is a place for that in politics and there is a place for that in leadership.”

Speaking on what she wanted people to get out of Prime Minister, Ardern added she hoped people who doubted themselves would see how much they are capable of.

“People who are looking for different types of leadership – I hope they see it in this story.”

The inclusion of Gayford’s family home videos, sometimes shot on a mobile phone or a small handycam, added to the intimate and candid feel of the documentary.

In an interview with Filmmaker Magazine, Gayford said: “I did make a stylistic choice to not make the at-home and intimate work recordings look too good, to help retain an authentic feel.”

Films belonging to different categories that also nabbed the Audience Award from Sundance are Twinless (US), Andre is an Idiot (US), DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia) and East of Wall (US).

Another film about the former Prime Minister is set to be released later this year.

Unlike Prime Minister, the second film reportedly titled Mania, has financial support from the New Zealand Film Commission.

Ardern has previously expressed support for Prime Minister, a co-production between New Zealand company Dark Doris Entertainment and US company Madison Wells, noting that New Zealand taxpayers do not fund it.

Speaking to Media Insider columnist Shayne Currie last June, Ardern said: “It’s a bit nerve-racking having a project like this out there but I think we’ve stopped seeing people in public life as human.

“Mine is a human story and a New Zealand story. If that makes a difference for someone else then I think that’s worth sharing.”

Since her departure from the Prime Minister role in 2023, Ardern has been appointed to a job specialising in technology governance at Harvard University and has continued her work for the Christchurch Call, which aims to combat online extremism.

Varsha Anjali is a multimedia journalist at the Herald. Based in Auckland, she covers travel, culture and more.