Prolific documentarian Ken Burns is set to receive the Critics Choice Impact Award at the 10th annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, the organization announced Monday. Burns will be recognized at the Nov. 9 ceremony in New York City, hosted by performer/writer Aasif Mandvi.
“The prestigious award recognizes documentarians whose work has sparked meaningful dialogue, inspired action, and driven tangible societal change—an achievement that Burns’s extraordinary career exemplifies,” the Critics Choice Association said in a press release.
Alongside Burns’ Impact Award, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady will receive the Pennebaker Award at the ceremony. This honor, named after documentarian D. A. Pennebaker, goes to individuals “whose careers have made a profound and lasting contribution to the art of the documentary,” the Critics Choice Association noted in a press release. Pennebaker’s widow, Chris Hegedus, will present the award at the ceremony.
Burns has had a long and storied career as a documentarian, earning his first Oscar nomination back in 1982 for his 1981 documentary “Brooklyn Bridge.” He would soon earn a second Academy Award nomination for 1985’s “The Statue of Liberty.” Burns has numerous Emmys to his name, including for his documentary acclaimed miniseries “Baseball” and “The Civil War.” In 2022, he was inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame.
“As we mark our tenth year of celebrating excellence in nonfiction film and television, we are honored to recognize these extraordinary artists who reflect the breadth of the documentary form,” said Christopher Campbell, VP of Documentary at the Critics Choice Association, in a statement. “Ken Burns continues to inspire, educate, and enlighten with ‘The American Revolution,’ his latest historical epic, while Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady carry forward the tradition of direct cinema with their own distinctive vision, most recently in their feature ‘Folktales.’”
Ewing and Grady have worked together as filmmakers and documentarians for decades. In 2005, the pair broke out with their documentary “The Boys of Baraka,” which received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form. Their 2006 documentary “Jesus Camp” earned a Best Documentary Feature nomination at the Oscars. Their latest documentary, “Folktales,” premiered at Sundance in January 2025, and was later distributed by Magnolia Pictures in late July.
Nominations for the 10th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be announced Monday, Oct. 20. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. ET at The Edison Ballroom in New York City.
