2023 Humanitas Prize Watchlist
In honor of the 2023 Humanitas Prize Winners and Nominees announcement in the LA Times, here is a watchlist of those movies and TV shows with links to platforms they are streaming on:
Children’s Teleplay
Life By Ella (“Prison or Palace”) (Written by Hernán Barangan) 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
As hard as it is, Poppy can endure cancer treatment — what she can’t endure is being the only teenager in a pediatric ward full of children. Not one to take things lying down, she launches a campaign to get the medical staff to put her with other patients her age… and when she finally succeeds, a familiar face moves into the room next to hers. Only problem is that he doesn’t want to face his new situation; it’s up to Poppy to get him to change his perspective and find a way to have some fun.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
Pinecone & Pony ("A Life of Adventure") (Written by Gigi D.G.)
Gladys shows Pinecone there’s more to her mentor than she thought.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
The Crossover ("X's & 0's") (Written by Kwame Alexander, Damani Johnson)
Based on the critically-acclaimed best-selling novel in-verse by Kwame Alexander, “The Crossover” introduces teen brothers Josh and Jordan Bell, widely considered basketball phenoms. Through his lyrical poetry, an adult version of Josh, aka Filthy McNasty, narrates the story of he and his brother’s coming of age, on and off the court, as their former professional basketball player father adjusts to life after basketball, and their mother finally pursues lifelong dreams of her own.
Stream it now on Disney+.
Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur ("Hair Today Gone Tomorrow") (Written By Lisa Muse Bryant)
Lunella Lafayette is a perfectly normal 13-year-old girl… except for the fact that she’s the smartest person in the whole flippin’ Marvel universe, fights crime as the roller-skating, gadget-wielding Moon Girl, and has a ten-ton T-Rex named Devil Dinosaur as her partner! In this coming-of-age tale, two scrappy Super Heroes struggle to juggle the challenges of growing up with their mission to protect NYC’s Lower East Side from dangers both comical and colossal.
Stream it now on Disney+.
Comedy Feature Film
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Written by Cooper Raiff) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
Fresh out of college and without a clear life path going forward, 22-year-old Andrew is stuck back at home with his family in New Jersey. But if there’s one thing that belongs on his nonexistent résumé, it’s how to get a party started, which lands him the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bat mitzvahs for his younger brother’s classmates. When Andrew befriends a local mom, Domino, and her daughter, Lola, he finally discovers a future he wants – even if it might not be his own.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Written by Peter Farrelly, Brian Currie, Pete Jons)
To show support for his neighborhood friends serving in Vietnam, Chickie Donohue (Zac Efron) decides to do something totally outrageous: travel to the frontline by himself to bring the soldiers a little piece of home — their favorite can of American beer. However, what started as a well-meaning journey quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime as Chickie confronts the reality of this controversial war and his reunions with his childhood buddies thrust him into the complexities and responsibilities of adulthood. Based on an incredible true story, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is a heartfelt coming-of-age tale about friendship, loyalty and sacrifice.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
Champions (Written by Mark Rizzo)
Woody Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of Disabled players. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
Stream it now on Peacock.
Dealing with Dad (Written by Tom Huang)
Margaret Chang reluctantly goes back to her hometown with her hapless brothers to deal with the sudden depression of their dad. The thing is, everybody hates him and he’s actually nicer depressed than well.
Comedy Teleplay
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("Four Minutes") (Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
The series finale.
Stream it now on Amazon Prime Video.
Atlanta (“The Goof Who Sat by the Door”) (Written by Francesca Sloane, Karen Joseph Adcock)
Season 4 finds “Earn” (Donald Glover), “Alfred ‘Paper Boi’ Miles” (Brian Tyree Henry), “Darius” (LaKeith Stanfield) and “Van” (Zazie Beetz) back in their hometown. But the question is, has Atlanta changed, or have they? In this episode, they're always making Paper Boi go through something.
Stream it now on Hulu/FX.
Reservation Dogs (“Mabel”) (Written by Sterlin Harjo, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs)
Reservation Dogs follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma as they steal, rob and save to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California.
In this episode, the village comes together to send Mabel on her journey.
Stream it now on Hulu/FX.
Abbott Elementary (“Read-A-Thon”) (Written by Garrett Werner)
The competition heats up between Melissa and Janine as their classes go head-to-head in a read-a-thon sponsored by a local pizza shop; Jacob and Gregory join forces and attempt to get their student-podcasting club off the ground.
Stream it now on Hulu.
Documentary
Last Flight Home (Written by Ondi Timoner) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
LAST FLIGHT HOME, about the last days of her extraordinary father, Eli Timoner, who exercised his right to California’s End of Life Option Act, and together with his family, courageously, and joyously faced both life and death.
Stream it now on Paramount Plus.
The Human Trial (Written by Lisa Hepner)
In 2011, filmmakers Lisa Hepner and Guy Mossman heard about a radical stem cell treatment for diabetes, a disease that kills more than five million people each year. Driven by a desire to cure Lisa of her own type 1 diabetes, the married couple secured unprecedented, real-time access to a clinical trial in San Diego —only the sixth-ever embryonic stem cell trial in the world. What follows is an intimate journey with the patients and scientists who put themselves on the line to be first. In the world of biotech and medical research, there are no tidy solutions.
Stream it now: link here.
Murder In Big Horn (Written by Razelle Benally, Matthew Galkin)
When the body of 14-year-old Henny Scott is discovered on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, the FBI determines the cause of death to be hypothermia. When the body of 18-year-old Kaysera Stops Pretty Places is discovered, the cause of death is “undetermined”. When Selena Not Afraid goes missing, the response is unprecedented. All three are examples of the growing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Big Horn County, Montana.
Stream it now on Paramount Plus.
Hold Your Fire (Written by Stefan Forbes)
Brooklyn, 1973. Twelve hostages. Four desperate gunmen. When a policeman dies in a hail of bullets, NYPD psychologist Harvey Schlossberg averts a bloodbath using words instead of guns, and becomes the father of modern hostage negotiation.
Stream it now on Hulu.
Drama Feature Film
A Jazzman’s Blues (Written by Tyler Perry) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
Tyler Perry's tale of forbidden love and family drama unravels 40 years of secrets and lies against a soundtrack of juke-joint blues in the Deep South.
Stream it now on Netflix.
She Said (Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz)
Two-time Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan and Emmy nominee Zoe Kazan star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation— a story that shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and impelled a shift in American culture that continues to this day.
Stream it now on Amazon Video.
Till (Written by Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, Chinonye Chukwu)
Till is the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous pursuit of justice after her son Emmett was lynched in the Jim-Crow South of 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi. We see the universal power of a mother’s ability to change the world in Mamie’s poignant journey of grief turned to action.
Stream it now on Amazon Video.
Drama Teleplay
The Last of Us (“Long, Long Time”) (Written by Craig Mazin) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
THE LAST OF US takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Stream it now on HBO Max.
Better Call Saul (“Saul Gone”) (Written by Peter Gould)
The series finale.
Stream it now on Netflix.
A Million Little Things (“One Big Thing”) (Written by D.J. Nash, James Roday Rodriguez)
As Rome Howard says, 'Life isn’t just about the moments, it's about who you share them with.' And as the fifth and final season of the beloved ABC drama series A Million Little Things unfolds, we'll watch through laughter and tears as we bring this incredible journey to its conclusion. Along the way, we'll explore the depths of friendship, love and sorrow as we bid this special family of friends goodbye, once again proving that friendship really is a million little things.
Stream it now on ABC.
All Creatures Great and Small (“Surviving Siegfried”) (Written by Ben Vanstone)
All Creatures Great and Small returns to the Yorkshire Dales to follow the adventures of veterinarian James Herriot in the 1930s. Change is the order of the day as professional and emotional relationships mature through new partnerships, ghosts from the past and doing one's duty--and of course doing right by the animals. In the Surviving Siegfried episode, Siegfried’s First World War experiences resurface as he struggles to save a racehorse. Helen faces a decision over James’s TB testing plan.
Stream it now on PBS.
Family Feature Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Written by Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents the classic story of a wooden puppet brought to life in this stunning stop-motion musical tale.
Stream it now on Netflix.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Written by Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow)
For the first time in more than a decade, DreamWorks Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe as daring outlaw Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest yet.
Stream it now on Netflix.
Gigi & Nate (Written by Daivd Hudgins)
Inspired by a true story, a young man paralyzed in a tragic accident gets a service animal that changes his life.
Stream it now on Hulu.
Limited Series, TV Movie, or Special
A Small Light (“Pilot”) (Written by Tony Phelan, Joan Rater) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
Miep and Jan’s worst fear comes true when the Nazis raid The Annex. Refusing to lose hope, Miep is determined to save the Franks and others at any cost, even if it means confronting the enemy head-on.
Stream it now on Disney Plus/Hulu.
Little America (“Paper Piano”) (Written by Brian Savelson)
An Afghan piano prodigy seeking asylum in NYC fights to bring his mother to the US and reconnect with his passion.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
Little America (“Camel on a Stick”) (Written by Lee Eisenberg, Idil Ibrahim)
Determined to win the Minnesota State Fair, a chef must contend with shipping delays, a ticking clock, and his Somali community's judgment.
Stream it now on Apple TV+.
An Amish Sin (Written by Michael Nankin, Barbara Nance)
A young Amish woman, abused since childhood, struggles to find the self respect to leave her family and culture.
Stream it now on Lifetime.
Short Film
Sevap/Mitzvah (Written by Sabina Vajrača) - 2023 HUMANITAS PRIZE WINNER
During WWII in Nazi-occupied Bosnia, a Muslim woman risks everything to save her Jewish friends. 50 years later the tables have turned. Inspired by a true story.
Find more about it here.
Other Homes (Written by Joseph Lee)
In the winter of the Korean War, a North Korean family escapes to the sea, where they must quietly sneak across the water on a fisherman’s boat to reach freedom.
N/A
Look Back at It (Written by Felicia Pride)
A forty-something single mother gets her groove back with a little assistance from her teenage daughter.
Find more about it here.
Ninety-five Senses (Written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer)
An ode to the body's five senses delivered by a death-row inmate with little time left to enjoy them.
N/A