No documentary this year will likely come under as much scrutiny and discussion. Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz and on general release in New Zealand from September 25, Prime Minister follows Jacinda Ardern from taking up the leadership of the Labour Party, shortly before the 2017 election, to writing her memoir at Harvard in 2024.
It's clear this is Ardern's perspective, aided hugely by extensive filming undertaken behind closed doors by her husband then partner Clarke Gayford, who was a producer on the film, and weekly previously-unheard recordings from an Alexander Turnbull Library Political Diaries project, which has since been cancelled.
So who was in control here?
RNZ's Culture 101 caught up with New Zealand based codirector Michelle Walshe. Walshe codirected Richie McCaw documentary Chasing Great and her production company Augusto has helmed corporate campaigns for clients ranging from golfer Lydia Ko to Adidas Augusta also put together a TV ad for the Labour party's 2017 election campaign.
