‘The Pitt,’ ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ ‘Nickel Boys’ Among 2025 Humanitas Prize Nominees
The Humanitas org has revealed nominations for this year’s Humanitas Prizes. Nominees on the TV side include The Pitt, The Last of Us, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Studio, while film nods include Conclave, Sing Sing, Inside Out 2 and Nickel Boys.
The Humanitas Prizes are for film and television writers across nine categories — including drama teleplay, comedy teleplay, limited series teleplay, children’s teleplay, drama feature film, comedy feature film, family feature film, documentary and short film. For the first time this year, the Humanitas Prizes will include two awards in the documentary category instead of one (one to a documentary feature and another for docuseries episode), making for ten Humanitas Prizes at the Humanitas Prizes Awards Show & Toast.
“Our organization has awarded over 450 Humanitas Prizes over a half-century,” said Michelle Franke, Humanitas’s executive director. “This year’s group of nominees is an inspiring group with an admirable oeuvre, and we’re eager to gather with them in September to celebrate.”
Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Woman King) will join Mara Brock Akil in presenting Lena Waithe with one of Humanitas’ top honors, the Voice for Change Award. Waithe was chosen for this year’s prize because it “honors those who have created or championed visionary and courageous storytelling.”
In addition to the Humanitas Prize winners and Waithe’s Voice for Change honor, the event will also recognize the org’s 2025 New Voices Fellowships (a six-month mentorship program), the David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award and the Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award (both of which include a $20,000 prize, a professional notes session with a writer in the Humanitas community and a package of benefits).
“Recognizing the early-career writers entering the New Voices Fellowship and receiving the College Screenwriting Awards is a beloved portion of our annual event,” Franke added. “The community that’s formed around these programs is warm and welcoming, one full of kind and talented writers with an unwavering belief in the power of the written word, film and television, especially in tumultuous times.”
Humanitas has been honoring productions since 1974. Funds raised at the ceremony support the Humanitas Prizes, New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Awards, along with the organization’s public programs.
Winners will be revealed at a ceremony at Avalon Hollywood on September 7, hosted by actress/writer/comedian Fortune Feimster. Last year’s winners included Hacks, Fellow Travelers, Black Cake and Origin.
Here are the 2025 Humanitas Prize nominees:
Drama Teleplay
Brilliant Minds (“The Man From Grozny”): Michael Grassi, Shannon Looney
The Last of Us (“The Price”): Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin
The Handmaid’s Tale (“Finale”): Bruce Miller
The Pitt (“2:00 P.M.”): Joe Sachs
Comedy Teleplay
Clean Slate (“Chrome Jesus”): Simran Baidwan, Shantira Jackson
A Man on the Inside (“Tinker Tailor Older Spy”): Michael Schur
The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh (“Interrogation Log #1”): Vijal Patel
The Studio (“Casting”): Alex Gregory
Limited Series Teleplay
Dying for Sex (“It’s Not That Serious”): Kim Rosenstock
Interior Chinatown (“Generic Asian Man”): Charles Yu
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (“Episode 1”): David Harrower
Say Nothing (“Do No Harm”): Clare Barron
Children’s Teleplay
Heartstopper (“Journey”): Alice Oseman
Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (“Full Moon”): Liz Hara
Me (“Pilot”): Barry L. Levy
Primos (“Summer of Silencio”): Natasha Kline
Drama Feature
Conclave: Peter Straughan
Nickel Boys: RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
Comedy Feature
DÌDI (弟弟): Sean Wang
My Old Ass: Megan Park
A Real Pain: Jesse Eisenberg
Family Feature
Inside Out 2: Dave Holstein, Meg LeFauve
Out of My Mind: Daniel Stiepleman
The Wild Robot: Chris Sanders
Short Film
Babka: Serena Dykman
The Cockroach: Mary Pat Bentel
Hour of Blood: Marcella Ochoa
Neither Donkey Nor Horse: Robin Wang, Jesse Aultman
Documentary (Feature)
Cutting Through Rocks: Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Deaf President Now!: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim
The Last of the Sea Women: Sue Kim
Patrice: The Movie: Ted Passon
Documentary (Docuseries, Single Episode)
30 for 30 Shorts (“Motorcycle Mary”): Haley Watson
Down in the Valley (“Saints and Sinners”): Nicco Annan, Katori Hall, Shoshana Guy
Turning Point: The Vietnam War (“The End of the Road”): Brian Knappenberger
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae (“Wounded Knee 1973”): Yvonne Russo
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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