The Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is excited to announce a new award for documentary film—The Henry Awards for Public Interest Documentary—and its first list of 15 semifinalists.
The Henry Awards recognize nonfiction films that advance public understanding of the critical issues of our time while demonstrating outstanding cinematic achievement. Guided by the hallmarks of ethical practice, rigorous investigation, and courageous storytelling, the Henry Awards are intended to honor and encourage a documentary filmmaking practice grounded in its essential role to a thriving society and focused on the public good.
“We are living through historic shifts in where, how, and from whom people get the information that shapes their understanding of the world,” says Shorenstein Center Director Nancy Gibbs. “At such a moment, when ‘truth’ is often reduced to a cage match between fact and faith, documentary film serves as a vital witness to the public interest. The Henry Awards aim to elevate and celebrate films that play a critical role in an information ecosystem that serves as a foundation for a free society.”
“At a time when major studios and streaming platforms are prioritizing documentary as entertainment or commerce, the Henry Awards seek to champion the essential work of documentaries that elevate public understanding,” says Sara Archambault, Director of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative at the Shorenstein Center and driver of the team that designed the awards. “Anchored by core values like ethical practice, investigative excellence, and artistic integrity, this award seeks to spotlight films and film teams committed to contributing to the common good through their craft.”
Starting with the 2025 Henry Awards, a grand prize of $100,000 will be awarded annually, along with four finalists who will also receive cash prizes. The grand prize winner and finalists will be determined by a jury of film industry professionals and journalists, and will be announced in April. (The full list of semi-finalists can be found below.)
Candidates for the Henry Awards were nominated by an international committee of experts from around the world who see, support, and champion contemporary nonfiction work. The Nominations Committee includes festival programmers, scholars, foundation leaders, journalists, and film critics. Nominations were accepted for feature-length documentary films from around the world that have been released for at least a year and have exhibited a notable impact on audiences. A Screening Committee reviewed the nominated films for their demonstration of the Henry Awards’ core values (criteria here). The winners will be selected by the jury from this group of semifinalists.
Here is the full list of 15 semifinalists that were selected by the Screening Committee:
ANHELL69 | Director: Theo Montoya; Producers: Bianca Oana, David Hurst, Juan P. Castrillón, Theo Montoya | Colombia, Romania, France, Germany
ANOTHER BODY | Directors: Sophie Compton & Reuben Hamlyn; Producers: Elizabeth Woodward, Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn | United States, United Kingdom
COCONUT HEAD GENERATION | Director: Alain Kassanda; Producers: Emilie Guitard, Alain Kassanda | France, Nigeria
FOUR DAUGHTERS | Director: Kaouther Ben Hania; Producers: Nadim Cheikhrouha with Habib Attia, Thanassis Karathanos, Martin Hampel | Tunisia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia
HOLLYWOODGATE | Director: Ibrahim Nash’at; Producers: Talal Derki, Odessa Rae, Shane Boris | Germany, United States
IF WE BURN | Directors: James Leong & Lynn Lee; Producers: James Leong, Lynn Lee | Hong Kong
KOKOMO CITY | Director: D. Smith; Producers: D. Smith, Harris Doran, Bill Butler | United States
MILISUTHANDO | Director: Milisuthando Bongela; Producers: Marion Isaacs, Milisuthando Bongela | South Africa, Colombia
Q | Director: Jude Chehab; Producers: Jude Chehab, Fahd Ahmed | United States, Lebanon
QUEENDOM | Director: Agniia Galdanova; Producers: Igor Myakotin, Agniia Galdanova | France, United States
THE STROLL | Directors: Kristen Lovell & Zackary Drucker; Producer: Matt Wolf | United States
THREE PROMISES | Director: Yousef Srouji; Producer: Marielle Olentine | Palestine, United States
WHILE WE WATCHED | Director: Vinay Shukla; Producers: Vinay Shukla, Luke W Moody, Khushboo Ranka | India, United Kingdom
YOUR FAT FRIEND | Director: Jeanie Finlay; Producer: Jeanie Finlay | United Kingdom, United States
YOUTH (SPRING) | Director: Wang Bing; Producers: Sonia Buchman, Mao Hui, Nicolas R. De La Mothe, Vincent Wang | France, Luxemburg, Netherlands
For more information about these films, please visit https://henryawards.org/2025-henry-awards-semi-finalists/.
Financial support for the Henry Awards Program is provided by Linda and John Henry. The program is administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
More information about The Henry Awards eligibility, criteria, and process can be found here: https://henryawards.org/
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ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY FILM IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST INITIATIVE
The goal of the Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative is to inspire a documentary film practice and infrastructure that can contribute to strong societies. The Initiative’s activities are designed to bridge thought and action. We bring together practitioners and researchers, journalists and documentary filmmakers, public policy leaders and technologists in a shared project to build a more resilient field that can serve the needs of a democratic public by design. For more information, please visit our website: https://dfpi.shorensteincenter.org/.
ABOUT THE SHORENSTEIN CENTER
The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to examining how essential information is created, conveyed, and consumed. We believe that improving the quality of public information and expanding access to it will bring about healthier, stronger, more peaceful societies. The Center pursues its core mission through original research, convening leaders in practice and scholarship, providing trainings and educational opportunities for students and media practitioners, and highlighting best practices across the fields of media and content production.
