The Library of Congress, The Better Angels Society, Ken Burns, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced the winner of the sixth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film: Cartooning America. The director, Asaf Galay, will be awarded a $200,000 cash prize for the multi-part film about the Fleischer Brothers, a family of animators who created innovative techniques that transformed the industry and are still in use today in an evolved form.
Max and Dave Fleischer’s legacy on American animation is profound, having preceded — and inspired — Walt and Roy Disney. Unlike the polished characters produced by the Disney studio, the Fleischer characters came right off the streets of New York City: the subtly Jewish Betty Boop; the muttering, street-smart Popeye; and Superman, the first-ever superhero cartoon. The Fleischers were the first to mix live action with animation, to premiere the first sound cartoon, to pioneer the use of 3D and to create a feature animation based on an original screenplay.
Cartooning America uses visuals including pencil tests, storyboards, drawings, behind-the-scenes home movies and the Fleischer’s very autobiographical cartoons, alongside interviews with family members, historians and the animators they inspired, to tell this family’s dramatic rags to riches to rags again story.
The runner-up Magic & Monsters, directed by Norah Shapiro, will receive a $50,000 cash prize. The film recounts the dark history of the acclaimed Minnesota Children’s Theatre Company, and how a group of former child actors are seeking justice and healing after its founder was convicted of child sexual abuse.
Four finalists (listed below) will each receive a $25,000 cash prize.
The Prize for Film provides critical recognition and resources to exemplary documentary films that tell compelling stories about American history. It was established in 2019 by the Library of Congress and The Better Angels Society, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging Americans with their history through documentary film. This award is bestowed annually by the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, in partnership with The Better Angels Society. Core underwriting for this prize is provided by a generous gift from Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation.
“We’re thrilled to recognize these filmmakers whose work helps to provide us with a sense of place that is often reassuring during extraordinary times like these,” said Ken Burns. “Cartooning America reminds me why I — like the Fleischer brothers — have pursued visual storytelling, and why this medium remains so vital and affecting. We are so grateful to Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine whose generous support, through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation, has made this prize possible for the last six years.”
“Animation created some of the most iconic figures in American cinema. I am pleased to recognize, in first place, a documentary that so vividly portrays two early pioneers of the animation industry that has brought us so much laughter and joy,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “Our runner up documentary, in contrast, is an exploration of the search for justice and catharsis by victims of abuse — a reminder that difficult stories are as important for posterity as those we celebrate. I congratulate both of these talented filmmakers on their efforts to bring these very different stories into our national narrative.”
The winner will be awarded on September 17 at a ceremony featuring the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Hayden and Ken Burns, along with congressional speakers to be announced.
On October 10, during Live! at the Library, Katherine Malone-France will appear in conversation with the winning filmmaker Asaf Galay, highlighting the importance of archival footage and the Library of Congress’s collections in making the film.
WINNING FILMS
Winner: CARTOONING AMERICA, directed by Asaf Galay
The Fleischer brothers were a family of New York Jewish immigrants whose inventions helped create America’s animation industry. Their cartoons were hilarious and strange, reflecting the world they lived in. It’s a rags to riches to rags again story, of a family whose influence on animators working today was profound.
Runner-Up: MAGIC & MONSTERS, directed by Norah Shapiro
Founded in 1965, the Minnesota Children’s Theatre Company gained worldwide acclaim. However, in the 1980s, its founder was convicted of child sexual abuse, revealing a dark history within the theater. Now, a group of former child actors seeks justice and healing, offering a blueprint for reckoning with institutional trauma post-#MeToo.
FINALISTS
AREA 2, directed by James Sorrels
City leaders tacitly permitted Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his “Midnight Crew” of detectives to torture dozens of Black detainees in his notorious “Area 2” police station between 1972 and 1991. Area 2 chronicles the epic fight for justice through the journeys of three Midnight Crew torture survivors.
BEHIND THE LINES, directed by John Benitz
Based on The New York Times bestselling books, Behind the Lines follows a passionate historian on his journey around the world to find and preserve letters written during times of war. This personal and often emotional exploration of the war experience uncovers our worst impulses but also the secrets to our shared humanity.
DORY PREVIN: ON MY WAY TO WHERE, directed by Julia Greenberg &Dianna Dilworth
Dory Previn was a successful lyricist for Hollywood films in the 50s and 60s who in the 70s transformed into an influential cult singer-songwriter, and famously went public about her schizophrenic diagnosis, ultimately accepting her voices and anticipating a modern-day neurodiversity movement.
WEDNESDAYS IN MISSISSIPPI, directed by Marlene McCurtis
Throughout Freedom Summer of 1964, teams of activist Black and White women from northern cities risked all to fly into Mississippi, conducting undercover civil rights work to leave a lasting legacy for local empowerment and national progress. This was Wednesdays in Mississippi, a landmark all-women achievement too long overlooked.
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