FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR EIGHTH ANNUAL LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LAVINE/KEN BURNS PRIZE FOR FILM
$200,000 Cash Prize To Be Awarded to One of Six Film Finalists
Washington, DC – August 24, 2026 – The Library of Congress, The Better Angels Society, Ken Burns, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced the six finalists for the eighth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The prize provides critical recognition and resources to filmmakers who produce exemplary documentary films that tell compelling stories about American history.
The Prize for Film was established in 2019 by the Library of Congress and The Better Angels Society, the preeminent organization supporting outstanding American history documentaries to inspire lifelong learning, promote civic engagement, and encourage civil discourse. The prize is bestowed annually by the Library of Congress in partnership with The Better Angels Society and awards $200,000 to one winner, $50,000 to one runner-up, and $25,000 to each of four other finalists. Core underwriting for the prize is provided by a generous gift from Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation.
The Eighth Annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film will be awarded on October 22, 2026, at a ceremony in New York City with Ken Burns. Sponsors for the event include Bobby & Polly Stein; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Brian & Karen Conway; Marilynn & John Hill; The Ralph & Ricky Lauren Family Foundation; Dr. Annoel Yabes & Greg Lau; CliftonLarsonAllen; and Rocco & Debby Landesman.
The 2026 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film Finalists are:
THE ANIMATED MIND OF OLIVER SACKS, directed by Dempsey Rice
The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks draws on immersive animation and a newly uncovered trove of personal recordings to trace the young neurologist’s early work with patients alongside the private conflicts shaping his inner life. It reveals how a brilliant, humane, yet flawed man challenged prevailing medical culture and found in his patients a mirror for himself.
BARRIO TELEVISION, directed by Christina DiPasquale
Barrio Television uncovers how Puerto Rican activists in 1970s New York disrupted live television to launch “Realidades,” the first bilingual Latino series in U.S. history—expanding the public in public television. With original creators and never-before-seen materials, it reveals the rise, rupture, and return of a series that shattered expectations and refused to stay buried.
THE DAY FREEDOM DIED, directed by Joseph Dorman and Kelly Williams
In 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana, more than 60 Black men were murdered because they dared to vote. The Day Freedom Died is a journey to the dark heart of American racial history—the single bloodiest day of violence during Reconstruction and the Supreme Court decision that followed, which spurred more violence and undermined the country’s attempt at racial equality.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, directed by David Greaves and William Greaves (posthumous)
Once Upon a Time in Harlem documents a 1972 cocktail-salon gathering inside Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse, filmed cinéma-vérité on 16mm by filmmaker William Greaves. Greaves invited every surviving creator of the Harlem Renaissance he could locate, many of whom had not seen one another in fifty years. Newly restored and directed by Greaves’ son David, the film captures the group’s reminiscing, arguing, and wrestling with how culture survives across generations.
ROMARE BEARDEN: A LIFE IN COLLAGE, directed by Deborah Riley Draper
Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage is an intimate, visually layered portrait of the artist who transformed the rituals, traditions, and textures of Black life into a radical new visual language. Told through Bearden’s own words and archives, the film reintroduces a towering yet underrecognized modernist, athlete, and activist whose influence still shapes contemporary culture.
ZENÓN AND THE REBEL BOATS, directed by Juan C. Dávila Santiago
Zenón and the Rebel Boats tells the untold story of Carlos “Taso” Zenón, a Puerto Rican fisherman and unsung hero who led the struggle against the U.S. Navy’s prolonged occupation of his native island of Vieques, which began in 1941 and lasted over six decades. Narrated by Zenón himself before his death, the documentary weaves together his voice with never-before-seen archival footage that reveals the strategies implemented by fearless fishermen to defy warships and inspire an environmental and anti-War movement.
After a robust peer review of submissions, six finalists were selected by the National Jury of filmmakers and executives, historians, and cultural leaders. This year’s Jury includes historical documentarians Yoruba Richen, Betsy West, and Peter Yost; Tenement Museum President Annie Polland; University of Virginia history professor and film director Claudrena Harold; DOC NYC Artistic Director Jaie Laplante; Harvard’s Black Film Project Executive Director Jacqueline Glover; and Chief of the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center Rachael Stoeltje. The acting Librarian of Congress Robert Newlen, in consultation with Ken Burns, will select the winner and runner-up.
Since 2019, the Prize for Film has awarded $2.6 million to support outstanding documentaries about U.S. history. Winning films have included FLANNERY (Directed by Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco, S.J.); HOLD YOUR FIRE (Directed by Stefan Forbes); GRADUALLY, THEN SUDDENLY: THE BANKRUPTCY OF DETROIT (Directed by Sam Katz and James McGovern); BELLA! THIS WOMAN’S PLACE IS IN THE HOUSE (Directed by Jeff L. Lieberman); PHILLY ON FIRE (Directed by Ross Hockrow and Tommy Walker); DROP DEAD CITY (Directed by Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn); CARTOON KINGS (Directed by Asaf Galay); and AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ (Directed by David Alvarado).
Two 2025 Prize-recognized films, winner AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ and finalist SOUL PATROL, directed by J.M. Harper, had their world premieres at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where they were recognized with festival awards and critical acclaim.
Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film winners and finalists have been broadcast across network and streaming platforms, including PBS, Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video. Many of the films have played major festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and DOC NYC. Past recipients have also been nominated for or won major awards, including The Peabody Awards, NAACP Image Award, Emmy Awards, and the IDA Awards.
To learn more about the eighth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, visit www.thebetterangelssociety.org.
About Ken Burns
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for fifty years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; The U.S. and the Holocaust; The American Buffalo; Leonardo da Vinci; and, most recently, The American Revolution. Future film projects include Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others. Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including seventeen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations. In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In November of 2022, Ken was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
About The Better Angels Society
The Better Angels Society is the preeminent organization supporting outstanding American history documentaries to inspire lifelong learning, promote civic engagement, and encourage civil discourse. The Society works to ensure that films about American history by emerging and established filmmakers are completed, broadcast, promoted, and shared with wide audiences, along with complementary education and outreach resources and programs. Through the annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and the Better Angels Lavine Fellowship, The Society provides resources, mentorship, and recognition to U.S. history documentaries in process. The organization is also engaging the next generations of historical documentarians through innovative partnership programs that provide young people, ages 11-22, with the inspiration and training to make their own American history documentaries while building skills in historical research, critical thinking, leadership, communication, and civics.
About The Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation
Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine established the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation to focus a significant portion of their philanthropic efforts toward leveling the playing field for individuals and families. The Foundation works to address pressing social challenges in education, community and public service, health and welfare, discrimination, and poverty. The Foundation supports the multi-disciplinary efforts of organizations that serve to strengthen society through research, innovation, public policy, direct service, and advocacy.
About the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services, and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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