2020 Prize Finalists

The Librarian of Congress and Ken Burns announced the 2020 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film winner and runner-up at a virtual awards ceremony on October 20, 2020. The hour-long ceremony featured a conversation with Dr. Hayden, Ken Burns and Wynton Marsalis along with excerpts from the six finalist films. View the CEREMONY External link

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  “Hold Your Fire” – WINNER External link

  Directed by Stefan Forbes.

  In 1973, four young men stealing guns for self-defense were tragically mistaken by the NYPD for violent revolutionaries. A gunfight ensued and a police officer was killed. Despite the NYPD's policy of deadly force, Dr. Harvey Schlossberg managed to resolve the conflict peacefully and invent modern hostage negotiation.

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Explore images of New York from 1973 from our Prints and Photographs Division.

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  “Cured” – RUNNER-UP External link

  Directed by Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer.

  Until 1973, doctors automatically classified every gay man and lesbian as mentally ill. “Cured” tells the David-versus-Goliath story of the activists who challenged this diagnosis — and won.

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Learn about the Library’s LGBTQIA+ holdings and how to search them from our Women’s, Gender, and LGBTQIA+ Librarian and Collection Specialist.
  • Explore our collections and resources related to LGBTQ Activism and Pride.

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  “After Antarctica” – FINALIST External link

  Directed by Tasha Van Zandt.

  “After Antarctica” follows polar explorer Will Steger’s journey as an eyewitness to the changes in the polar regions of our planet. Thirty years after his expedition across Earth's coldest continent, Steger is not only known for being the first in history to complete this feat - he is also the last.

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Take a deep dive into the Manuscript Division’s holdings related to Polar Exploration.
  • The Prints and Photographs Division has many small collections of photos taken on early expeditions to the South Pole/Antarctica:
    • Frederick Cook's expedition to Antarctica aboard the ship Belgica, 1897-1899.
    • Discovery and explorations of the South pole by Capt. Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer, and crew, 1910-1911
    • Exploration of the Antarctic led by Robert Falcon Scott, 1910-1912, English explorer.
    • Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic, 1914-15.
  • Check out this 1988 story External Link from the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on preparations for the 1990 dogsled expedition across Antarctica. 

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  “Beethoven in Beijing” – FINALIST External link

  Directed by Jennifer Lin and Sharon Mullally.

  Dispatched by President Nixon in 1973 to help open the “bamboo curtain” separating the Chinese and American people, the iconic Philadelphia Orchestra now turns to its past as a cultural ambassador to strengthen its precarious future at home.

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Explore photos from the Library’s collections related to Chinese-US relations.
    • Views of China by Jean E. Norwood, 1979. View digitized images.
    • CQ Roll Call Photograph Collection. Photos related to U.S./China in U.S. Congress, 1997-2000.

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  “Punch 9 for Harold Washington” – FINALIST External link

  Directed by Joe Winston.

  “Punch 9 for Harold Washington” will tell a national audience, for the first time, the story of how Washington became Chicago’s first African-American mayor, opened up government to everyone, and paved the way for future political leaders, including Barack Obama.

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Find out more about Chicago as a destination for African-American's during the Great Migration with the Library's exhibition "The African-American Mosaic".
  • Watch and listen to these recordings of public broadcasting recordings from the American Archive of Public Broadcasting related to Harold Washington:
    • Watch this 1968 WTTW program External Link from Chicago hosted by James Baldwin that includes State Representative Harold Washington answering phoned-in questions from constituents.
    • This September 8, 1987 episode External Link of “In Black America” is dedicated to Harold Washington and includes a speech by the Mayor of Chicago at the 12th Annual National Association of Black Journalists Conference.
    • “WBEZ Radio News; 1987--excerpts, Mourning a Mayor and Moving On.” 1987 that includes selections External Link from station WBEZ’s coverage of Harold Washington’s death and the events that followed, from November 25 - December 1, 1987. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. October 14, 2021.
    • Find more by searching Harold Washington at https://americanarchive.org/ External Link

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  “Storming Caesars Palace” – FINALIST External link

  Directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler.

  “Storming Caesars Palace” is an intimate portrait of Ruby Duncan who built a grassroots anti-poverty movement of low-income black mothers in Las Vegas. Championing a Universal Basic Income in 1969, they led their own War on Poverty — and almost won, challenging notions of the “Welfare Queen.”

  LOC Collection Connections:

  • Watch this 1977 interview External link with Ruby Duncan on her continued efforts on behalf of women in Las Vegas from an episode of the series Women Alive! produced by WNET New York. 

Next Generation Angels Awards

2020 Next Generation Angels Awards – Student Filmmakers External link