Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, the documentary Prime Minister follows Jacinda Ardern’s five-year term as New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister, exploring both the public and private challenges she navigated.
The film made its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary, and makes it debut Tuesday, September 30 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.
In August 2017, Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became New Zealand’s opposition party leader just weeks before the national election. She had just turned 37 years old. Two frenetic months later, she was Prime Minister and had just learned she was pregnant. She would become the second head of state in history to give birth while in office. Ardern quickly became one of the most recognizable leaders in the world, drawing global attention from anyone craving a sensitive and compassionate approach to the critical issues of our time. In private, she struggled with new motherhood and proving herself to a public skeptical of female leadership. A series of crises — the Christchurch massacre, pandemic lockdowns, and disinformation-fueled protests outside Parliament — would test that leadership and the unique approach she brought to it. She resigned from office in January 2023, shocking her supporters and critics alike.
Going behind the scenes of her administration and private life, Prime Minister follows Ardern over the course of seven years as she is catapulted to the top of New Zealand politics, becomes a global political icon, resigns from office, and continues to champion the fight against isolationism, fear, and the distortion of truth. Intimate home footage shot by her husband and audio interviews from her time in office give viewers unparalleled access and an unfiltered window into her years in power.
Watch the official HBO trailer for Prime Minister, above.
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