Kill. Bury. Print. wins 2026 David Carr Award from Montclair
Rachel Maddow’s true-crime documentary Kill. Bury. Print. has won the Montclair Film Festival’s 2026 David Carr Award for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking. The Peacock film, co-honored with director Ben Klein, tracks a McCurtain County, Oklahoma newspaper’s clash with local officials after a secret recording.
Key Takeaways
- Producer Rachel Maddow and director Ben Klein will receive the 2026 David Carr Award for Kill. Bury. Print.
- The film follows the family-run McCurtain Gazette’s standoff with the McCurtain County, Oklahoma sheriff’s department after secretly recorded audio of officials discussing killing and burying reporters.
- Kill. Bury. Print. debuted on Peacock on Sept. 27, 2026, and will screen at Montclair with a Q&A on Oct. 17.
- It is Maddow’s first true-crime documentary, first Peacock project, and first festival screening.
What is Kill. Bury. Print. about?
Kill. Bury. Print. is a true-crime documentary about a tiny family-run newspaper facing off against the local sheriff’s department in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. According to Variety, Maddow first covered the story in 2023 after the paper released secretly recorded audio of local officials discussing killing and burying the reporters.
The Mac Observer reports that the Willingham family’s McCurtain Gazette had been investigating alleged misconduct involving sex, drugs, and violence in local law enforcement when a concealed recording captured talk of retaliation against the journalists. That recording sits at the center of the film’s account of how a local accountability fight became a national scandal.
In a statement, Maddow called the saga brazen and thrilling, saying it contains sex, drugs, suspicious disappearances, a jailbreak, a spy pen, unspeakable crimes, and an alleged murder plot. She likened the story to “All The President’s Men” meets “No Country For Old Men.”
Why did Kill. Bury. Print. win the David Carr Award?
Each year, the Montclair Film Festival presents the David Carr Award for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking to honor New York Times reporter and Montclair resident David Carr, celebrating his passion for the truth and commitment to great journalism. Maddow, as producer, and Ben Klein, as director, are the 2026 honorees for Kill. Bury. Print.
“On behalf of the filmmaking team, we’re very thankful to the Montclair Film Festival for this great honor,” Klein said in a statement. He noted the film centers on a family of bulldog journalists and called the Carr award a fitting tribute.
The recognition also marks a milestone for Maddow’s documentary slate. Kill. Bury. Print. is her third documentary produced with Surprise Inside, the company she founded with Phil Griffin, former president of MSNBC, now MS NOW. Earlier titles were 2024’s From Russia With Lev and 2025’s Andrew Young: The Dirty Work.
When and where can you watch Kill. Bury. Print.?
The documentary debuted on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platform on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. Variety reports it is Maddow’s first true-crime documentary, her first project with Peacock, and her first documentary to screen at a film festival.
Montclair Film Festival audiences will see the film during next month’s festival in Montclair, New Jersey. Maddow and Klein will join a post-screening Q&A on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8:00 p.m. at the Wellmont Theater.
Producers include Maddow and Klein; Joshua Rofé and Steven J. Berger for Number 19; Phil Griffin and Jack Bohrer for Surprise Inside; Otis Pictures; and Universal Television Alternative Studio. Ben Warhit and Colleen Hall are executive producers. For more breaking entertainment and market-adjacent coverage, visit our Fintech & Crypto Alerts hub.
Maddow has said she never expected to make a true-crime documentary, but credited Klein’s vision for a sometimes creepy, often darkly funny, and always beautiful telling of the kill bury print saga that put a local newsroom’s risk on a national stage.