Peabody Awards Names 60 Nominees

The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors has picked 60 nominees that represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and digital media during 2019.

The nominees were chosen by unanimous vote of 19 jurors from nearly 1,300 entries from television, radio/podcasts and the web in entertainment, news, documentary, children's and public service programming, the awards producers said. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Peabody is proud to champion this year's nominees who inspire our connection, provoke our thinking and delight our senses. From the communal strength of black women to the eminence of science to the conviction of those who speak up, these stories and their creators celebrate the diversity of human experience and of our democracy, Jeffrey P. Jones, executive director of Peabody, said in a statement. Amidst the challenges of our present moment, we can find empathy, entertainment and truth in these nominees.

The nominated programs encompass a wide range of pressing issues, including the criminal justice system, repercussions of the #MeToo movement, and immigrant rights, according to the statement.

Of the 60 nominations, PBS and HBO lead with 11 and seven, respectively, followed by Netflix (five), Amazon (three), and SHOWTIME, CNN, NBC News, and the podcast company Pineapple Street Studios (two each). From the list 30 winners will be named at a later date.

The 60 Peabody Award Nominees, listed by category and in alphabetical order (network/platform in parentheses) are:

CHILDREN'S & YOUTH

Molly of Denali -- This captivating animated show explores Alaskan Native culture and traditions though the eyes of young Molly. WGBH Educational Foundation, Atomic Cartoons (PBS Kids)

Treasure Island 2020 -- This wonderfully fun podcast inventively reworks Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, now with time traveling pirates. Gen-Z Media (BYUradio)

DOCUMENTARIES

16 Shots -- This moving and impressively comprehensive forensic account from director Rick Rowley examines the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police. SHOWTIME Documentary Films in association with Topic, Impact Partners, and Chicago Media Project (SHOWTIME)

American Factory -- Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert's film offers an excellent fly-on-the-wall account of the arrival of the Fuyao factory and its Chinese leadership in Moraine, Ohio, and the clash of cultures at play as American workers seek to adapt to Chinese ownership and its fight against unionization of workers. Higher Ground Productions and Participant Media for Netflix (Netflix)

Apollo 11 -- Comprised entirely, and masterfully, of archival materials, the film is a riveting as-it-happened presentation of the 1969 NASA mission landing the first men on the moon. CNN Films (CNN)

For Sama -- Composed as a love letter from co-director Waad al-Kateab to her daughter, and as an explanation of why she and her husband remained in besieged Aleppo to help run a hospital, For Sama is a profound, beautiful tale about both the war and the families caught in it. FRONTLINE, Channel 4 News, ITN Productions, Channel 4 (PBS)

Independent Lens: HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING -- Intimately exploring the everyday lives of African Americans in rural Alabama through artistically rendered vignettes, director RaMell Ross captures the feel, atmosphere, fiber and culture of a community rarely seen on film. A production of Idiom Film, LLC and Louverture Films, in association with Field of Vision (PBS)

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you're a girl) -- The story of a skateboarding camp and school for girls in Afghanistan, Carol Dysinger's delightful film empathetically charts the young skaters as they develop courage and allow their personalities to shine. Grain Media for A&E IndieFilms Network (A&E)

Leaving Neverland -- A brave if deeply troubling account from Dan Reed of pop legend Michael Jackson's relationships with children, told through profiles of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, offering their accounts of being groomed for, suffering under and attempting to recover from alleged abuse. Amos Pictures and HBO Documentary in association with Channel Four (HBO)

One Child Nation -- Directors Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang powerfully explore the impact of China's one child policy on the parents and siblings who lost loved ones, on those who rescued children or performed the abortions, and ultimately on a nation, its culture and its conscience. Next Generation in co-production with ITVS, WDR/ARTE, Motto Pictures and Pumpernickel Films in association with Chicago Media Project and Chicken & Egg Pictures (Prime Video)

POV: Am rica -- A beautiful portrait from Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside of grandsons taking care of their charming 93-year-old grandmother in Colima, Mexico. Lifelike Docs, American Documentary | POV (PBS)

POV: Inventing Tomorrow -- Laura Nix's inspiring profile of six amazing teenage scientists from around the world preparing for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair by working on solutions to complex environmental issues. Fishbowl Films, Motto Pictures, 19340 Productions, Shark Island Institute, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, IQ190 Productions, American Documentary | POV (PBS)

POV: Midnight Traveler -- Filmed on phones by Hassan Fazili, this poignant autobiographical account of his refugee family's journey from Afghanistan to Hungary is a beautiful testament to parenting through trauma. Old Chilly Pictures LLC, American Documentary | POV, Independent Television Service (PBS)

POV: Roll Red Roll -- Harrowing yet powerful retelling by Nancy Schwartzman of the 2012 rape of a teenage girl by members of a beloved high school football team in Steubenville, Ohio,

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