The Golden Globes® and Artemis Rising Foundation announced May 18 that husband-and-wife filmmaking duo Joshua and Rebecca Tickell were awarded the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary in Partnership with Artemis Rising Foundation during the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

Their film Groundswell follows experts, Indigenous leaders, and farmers across five continents, demonstrating how regenerative farming can restore soil health, draw carbon from the atmosphere, and fight climate change. The jury also recognized the Tickells for their longstanding contributions to documentary storytelling and distinctive artistic voice.

Actor-producer Kelvin Harrison Jr. presented the prize at an event held at the Plage des Palmes during the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and the concurrent Marché du Film. Supported by Think-Film Impact Production, the event included a panel discussion, award presentation, and reception celebrating documentary filmmaking. The Tickells received a EUR 10,000 cash award from Artemis Rising Foundation in recognition of their contributions to the documentary field.

The jury said in a joint statement: “In a world where hope feels audacious, Joshua & Rebecca Tickell shine out for their dedication to telling stories that draw audiences in and inspire us with real solutions. Their films consistently match an artist’s vision with a passionate heart for the next generations. Their impressive track record of creative work connects us more deeply to the world around us, and points consistently to the urgent questions shaping our collective future.”

Accepting the award, Joshua Tickell said: “Documentary is a genre with incredible staying power, and one that is accelerating. It is such an honor to receive this award — this is an exceptional moment where as the world gets worse, people are more interested in solving the environmental crisis.”

Rebecca Tickell added: “This is the most important issue of our time. Stabilizing the climate needs to be our number one agenda, and storytelling for us is the way to do that — because storytelling shapes our lives. We are leaving the age of extraction and entering the age of regeneration. It was such a privilege in making this film to see people in the most gruelling places regenerating their environments. This film is not just a story, it is a mission. The future belongs to the next generation, we made this film for them.”

The Tickells’ daughter Athena, said, “We all got Typhoid, but it was worth it.”

The jury includes Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne; Academy Award-winning producer and founder of Artemis Rising Foundation Regina K. Scully; Oscar-winning producer and co-founder of Impact Partners Geralyn White Dreyfous; founder-CEO of Think-Film Impact Production Danielle Turkov Wilson; and  Harrison Jr. Mariam Fakhroo of Doha Film Institute served as Jury Observer.

“We are thrilled to be highlighting the Golden Globes’ and Artemis Rising Foundation’s shared commitment to elevating documentary storytelling on a global stage with this prize,” said Hoehne. “Audiences today need and are looking for stories with truth and meaning, and documentaries are a vital form of film.”

Scully stated, “Artemis Rising Foundation is proud to honor outstanding filmmakers who have demonstrated a commitment to documentaries. We believe that meaningful documentary storytelling has the power to inspire fierce compassion and help shape a better future. We’re delighted to collaborate with the Golden Globes on this important prize, amplifying exceptional talent and elevating the documentary genre on a global stage.”

Dreyfous added, “Documentary stories are changing our lives and the world. People trust them even more than traditional media. It is a very integral and integrated ecosystem and we all need to support each other. It has been fantastic to get recognition on the craft and form through the Golden Globes elevating documentary with this prize.”

Harrison Jr.  said, “This has been such an inspiring process. What I love about documentary filmmaking is that it’s the foundation of the engine of empathy. It is where I learned most about who we are as people. Documentary filmmakers are trailblazers for how we understand the world. They do so much in isolation to help actors understand who we are, and they challenge and protect the entertainment industry — to have this initiative push documentaries forward is something we should all be grateful for.”

Turkov said, “There is such an appetite among audiences for non-fiction storytelling, and since last year, there has been a wave of interest in this initiative. This prize really helps uplift documentarians and their journey and social justice storytelling.”

Launched in 2025, the prize has been presented at major international festivals, including Cannes and Venice, underscoring the Golden Globes’ and Artemis Rising Foundation’s shared commitment to elevating documentary storytelling on a global stage. It was awarded to Eugene Jarecki at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with a jury including actor-producer Tessa Thompson; and to Ross McElwee at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, with a jury including Teo Yoo and Jharrel Jerome.

As a premier entertainment awards show since 1944, the annual Golden Globes has honored achievements in both television and film. Over the last three decades, the Golden Globes has enabled donations of more than $55 million to entertainment-related charities including scholarship programs, film restoration projects and humanitarian efforts. This funding has also supported diverse programs in partnership with advocacy groups aimed at promoting greater access in Hollywood for underserved communities. Dick Clark Productions is the owner and producer of the Golden Globes. For more information on the Golden Globes, please visit GoldenGlobes.com and follow them on X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and TikTok.

Artemis Rising Foundation is dedicated to supporting media, arts and education projects that transform our culture. Scully champions powerful stories about challenging issues with compassion including trauma recovery, mental health, addiction, regenerative farming and other important ecological issues concerning clean soil, seeds and food. Artemis Rising Foundation has helped produce some of the most impactful documentary films of our time, inspiring changes in education, public policy, and culture with such films such as What Would Sophia Loren Do? The Biggest Little Farm, The Fantastic Fungi, The Invisible War, All the Empty Rooms, Fed Up, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Common Ground, Kiss the Ground, Bee Wild and of course Groundswell, 

Aside from the Tickells, the Foundation has worked with renowned filmmakers including Morgan Neville, Katie Couric, Ross Kauffman, Louie Schwartzberg, Freida Mock, Liz Garbus, Amy Ziering, Laura Dern and Alex Gibney. Artemis Rising Foundation has supported hundreds of films, many Peabody, Emmy and Academy Award-winning. Artemis Rising Foundation supports documentaries, narrative film, television, theater, education, and sustainable regenerative farming that inspire innovation and change around the world. The Foundation can be reached on Instagram here and the Foundation film website here.

Think-Film Impact Production is the world’s premier impact media company. Think-Film partners with international independent feature storytellers to advance social justice at the highest levels of international policy and governance. Think-Film has brought impact into the A-list film festival circuit including, co-launching the Cannes Marche du Film impACT program in 2021 and awarding the Venice Collateral Impact Award in 2023 and 2024, with jury members including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alia Shawkat, Adjoa Andoh, Nadine Labaki, Yalitza Aparicio, Elsa Zylberstein.

Think-Film has led impact on more than 50 films over the past 10 years, including: Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2026), The Voice of Hind Rajab (2026), Navalny (2023), Black Box Diaries (2025), The End (Tilda Swinton feature from Joshua Oppenheimer), and Dark Waters (Mark Ruffalo feature from Todd Haynes).