Prime Minister

Enter Jacinda Ardern’s private world as she leads New Zealand through tumultuous times in this Sundance award-winning documentary.

In 2017, with right-wing nationalism dominating world politics, Jacinda Ardern’s rise to the prime ministership of New Zealand promised a far more progressive and cosmopolitan type of government. The world’s youngest female head of state at just 37, Ardern went from boosting social spending and pursuing stronger international alliances to navigating major crises such as the Christchurch mosque massacre and the COVID-19 pandemic – all as a mum to a young daughter. But the international praise she received for her decisive and compassionate responses didn’t always match perceptions at home; and, in January 2023, amid cratering public approval, she resigned, citing burnout.

Fresh from winning the World Cinema Documentary Competition Audience Award at Sundance, this intimate five-year portrait reveals the private beliefs and emotions underpinning Ardern’s public decisions. Through vulnerable moments and unguarded observations captured in audio diaries she recorded for a National Library of New Zealand oral-history project, along with home videos recorded by her husband, Clarke Gayford, she emerges as a person of principle; while directors Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz – an acclaimed editor of documentaries including Bully (MIFF 2012), Oscar winner American Factory and Taylor Swift portrait Miss Americana – draw on this archival bounty with aplomb. In a world still riddled with bigotry and violence, Ardern’s hopeful message of empathy and connection remains as urgent as ever.

“An eye-opening insider perspective that comes as a reminder of what conviction politics looks like when it is maintained even under extreme pressure.” – Screen Daily