Full Breakdown
Groundswell Wins Golden Globes Documentary Prize at Cannes
5/19/2026, 9:56:59 PM
Award Announcement
At the 79th Cannes Film Festival, husband-and-wife filmmakers Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell received the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary, presented in partnership with Artemis Rising Foundation. Actor-producer Kelvin Harrison Jr. presented the award at Plage des Palmes. The Tickells accepted the honor alongside their two children and received a €10,000 cash prize.
Prize Background
The Golden Globes Documentary Prize, launched in 2025, aims to spotlight nonfiction films that propose concrete solutions to global challenges. In collaboration with Artemis Rising Foundation, the prize honors filmmakers whose work offers concrete solutions to pressing issues. Prior recipients include Eugene Jarecki for “The Six Billion Dollar Man” (2025) and Ross McElwee for “Remake” (2024).
Tickell Trilogy
“Groundswell,” the third film in the Tickells’ regenerative-agriculture trilogy, follows farmers, scientists and Indigenous leaders across five continents. Narrated and executive-produced by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, the documentary builds on “Kiss the Ground” (2020) and “Common Ground” (2023) to illustrate how soil restoration can draw carbon from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change.
Impact Data
U.S. regenerative acreage rose from 3.5 million acres when the first film premiered to over 86 million acres today. The Tickells target one billion acres globally—about ten percent of total farmland worldwide—as the tipping point needed to stabilize the climate.
Jury Statements
The jury—Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne, Artemis Rising Foundation founder Regina K. Scully, Impact Partners co-founder Geralyn White Dreyfous, Think-Film Impact CEO Danielle Turkov Wilson, and actor Kelvin Harrison Jr.—praised the Tickells for delivering real solutions and inspiring compassion. Their joint statement emphasized the power of truth-driven documentary storytelling to engage global audiences.
Verbatim Quotes
- “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.” — Joshua Tickell, filmmaker
- “It’s beyond an honor to receive this,” — Joshua Tickell, filmmaker
- “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,” — Helen Hoehne, Golden Globes President
- “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.” — Kelvin Harrison Jr., actor-producer
What’s Next
The Cannes ceremony featured a panel on documentary impact, highlighting institutional support for climate-focused nonfiction. The Tickells intend to leverage the award’s visibility to accelerate the push toward one billion acres of regenerative agriculture. The prize has been presented at Cannes and Venice, underscoring its role in honoring documentary work on the global stage.
