Former prime minister coming to film festival

As the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival enters its 25th year, it will host its first-ever world leader — former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who held office from 2017–2023 and rose to prominence for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Right Honorable Dame will appear for a Friday evening showing of the documentary “Prime Minister,” which tells the story of her two terms with recordings including home videos taken by her husband.

“Prime Minister,” directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, will screen at 7:45 pm on Friday at the Performing Arts Center. Afterwards, Ardern and Utz will discuss the film and take audience questions, moderated by filmmaker and seasonal Vineyard resident Dawn Porter.

As the film explores, Ardern led her country of over 5 million through the COVID pandemic the Christchurch mosque shootings, and the deadly Whakaari/White Island volcanic eruption. The country under her leadership passed legislation to decriminalize abortion, promote housing affordability, and tighten gun control. She resigned in 2023, stating that she “no longer had enough in the tank” for the job.

Film festival executive director Brian Ditchfield told The Times that he looks forward to hearing from Ardern after first seeing “Prime Minister” with colleagues at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary.

“As [M.V. Film Festival programming director Minah Oh] and [senior programmer Anne Evasick] talked about programming this year, we always look for what we call the ‘golden thread’ that ties the programming together, and makes not only the screening but the festival as a whole a special experience. And something we really focused on this year is the theme of hope and inspiring stories. And as soon as we saw this film, we knew it fit the bill,” he said.

“It focuses on Dame Ardern’s time in office during COVID, during the Christchurch [shootings], she gives birth while in office, and it’s just a great example of what a leader can be in times of great need,” he added.

Ardern has been spending time in Massachusetts since 2023, when she was named 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. “We … were thrilled when we found out that she was in the area at Harvard right now and could attend the festival,” Ditchfield said. “She and her team have been a joy to communicate with, and we’re thrilled and honored that she will be here to talk to our community.”

Tickets to “Prime Minister” are available at tmvff.org.