The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation have unveiled six finalists for the fifth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Notably, veteran filmmaker Sam Pollard received two of the six noms.
The award, established in 2019, recognizes late-stage documentaries that use original research and a compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American history to life through archival materials.
The six projects that were selected are: Barak Goodman’s “Buckley,” Nicole London’s “The Disappearance of Miss. Scott,” Sam Pollard’s “The Harvest,” Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn’s “Drop Dead City – New York on the Brink in 1975,” Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro’s “Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes,” and Jason Cohn’s “Modernism Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story.”
This year 125 American history documentary features were submitted for consideration.
“We’ve seen time and again what a powerful tool a great historical documentary can be in sparking long overdue national conversations that are critical to how we understand the present,” says Ken Burns. “Thanks to the generous support of Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine, and with the participation of the Library of Congress and The Better Angels Society, this prize was established to address the crucial need for finishing funds among documentarians making films about American history, in a similar vein of my work over the years. Five years on, we continue to be amazed by the quality of the film submissions and the diversity of their topics as evidenced by this each of these terrific films.”
The winning filmmaker will receive $200,000 in finishing funds to help with the final production and distribution of the film. In addition, one runner-up will receive an award of $50,000, and four finalists each receive a $25,000 award. The funds are for finishing, marketing, distribution, and outreach.
“Audiences have a great hunger for storytelling that helps them understand and interpret the past, and film allows us to engage with our history in a way that is both entertaining and enlightening,” said Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine, who provided the funding to The Better Angels Society to endow this prize through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation. “We are proud to support this prize, and we congratulate each finalist on this recognition of their important work.”
A jury will review the six finalists and determine the top two. The Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, will then consult with Burns to select the winning film.
This year’s jury is comprised of Harvard professor Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed, documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter (“The Way I See It”), “American Masters” producer-director Sally Rosenthal, and University of Georgia professor Dr. Claudio Saunt, who will review the six finalists and determine the top two.
Since the grant was established in 2019, more than $1.6 million has been distributed to filmmakers, including Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco, S.J. (“Flannery”) Stefan Forbes (“Hold Your Fire”), and Jeff L. Lieberman (“Bella! This Woman’s Place is in the House”).
The fifth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film will be awarded on Sept. 26 at a ceremony with members of Congress, Hayden and Burns, along with other guests that will be announced later this summer.
The 2023 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film finalists are:
Barak Goodman
“Buckley” (working title) is a biography of one of the 20th Century’s most charismatic, controversial and influential political figures, William F. Buckley, Jr. Featuring a large cast of contemporaries, acolytes, and critics, the film reveals how WFB practically invented the modern conservative movement.
Nicole London
“The Disappearance of Miss Scott” tells the story of the incredible Hazel Scott, jazz darling, Hollywood star, and civil rights pioneer years before the formal civil rights movement began. The first African American with a network TV show. Wrongfully accused of Communist sympathies, her career shattered. Soon after, she was in exile, erased.
Sam Pollard and Douglas Blackmon
“The Harvest” is a deeply personal documentary depicting one southern town’s painful struggle to integrate its public schools at the height of the civil rights movement and the manifold repercussions of those events continuing to the present day. The film is grounded in journalistic inquiry and historical scholarship.
Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn
“Drop Dead City – New York on the Brink in 1975” documents the NYC fiscal crisis in the ’70s, an extraordinary, overlooked episode in urban American history that saw an already-crumbling city of 8 million people brought to the edge of bankruptcy and social chaos by a perfect storm of debt, greed, ambitious social policy, and poor governance.
Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro
“Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes” explores the life and music of the legendary drummer, bandleader, and social activist – a remarkable series of creative peaks, personal struggles, and reinventions – from Jim Crow to the Civil Rights years, from the heady days of post-war modern jazz to hip hop and beyond.
Jason Cohn
“Modernism Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story” tells the story of Eliot Noyes, the influential architect of comprehensive corporate design programs in the mid-20th Century. Noyes is most noted for his work at IBM, where he transmitted modernist thinking, set the standards for corporate design, and played a critical role in the rise of computers.
