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The 81st Peabody Awards kicked off a multi-day celebration earlier this month and are set to reveal winners of the prestigious titles in the coming days. Among the winners are filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY production company who took home the Peabody Institutional Award for its decade-long achievement in “narrative change” work.
“It was 10 years ago when Ava DuVernay created a unique, multi-platform arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change,” Oprah Winfrey said in a video congratulating the Oscar-nominated filmmaker’s latest award. “Now this vision manifested into a production organization led by a quartet of mission-driven entities,” Winfrey added.
The When They See Us director accepted the award, noting the diversity of the Peabody’s governing body.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I truly treasure the Peabody because of the way in which it is determined,” DuVernay said. “The body that decides this honor is diverse, in cultural background, but also in professional expertise and areas of interest. It’s just a beautiful honor.”
A podcast episode by The Washington Post on the life of George Floyd was also among this year’s winners. The Post Reports: The Life of George Floyd received a Peabody Award for exploring Floyd’s life, beyond his globally-watched death. Host and comedian Trevor Noah presented the outlet with the award in a video, as reported by Shadow and Act.
Among the 30 honorees were also Jemele Hill’s Whose Vote Counts, Full Disclosure by Brittany Packnett Cunningham, and Muslim in Trump’s America (Exposure) by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. All received an award for news.
See a full list of this year’s winners here.
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