Joshua and Rebecca Tickell’s regenerative agriculture documentary Groundswell has won the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary, presented in partnership with Artemis Rising Foundation, at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
The prize was announced at an event at Plage des Palmes on the Croisette, with actor and producer Kelvin Harrison Jr. presenting the award. The Tickells accepted alongside their two children, and received a €10,000 cash prize from Artemis Rising Foundation.
Narrated and executive produced by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, Groundswell is the third film in a trilogy that began with Kiss the Ground (2020) and Common Ground (2023). Shot across five continents, it follows farmers, scientists and Indigenous leaders working to restore soil health through regenerative agriculture and its potential role in addressing climate change.
Accepting the award, Joshua Tickell called it “a 27-year journey” dating back to when a mentor first handed him a Hi-8 camera. Rebecca Harrell Tickell used her acceptance speech to make the case for the film’s real-world impact, pointing to a surge in American farmland transitioning to regenerative practices — from 3.5 million acres when the earlier films were released to over 86 million acres today. The couple said their goal with Groundswell is to push that figure to one billion acres globally, which they described as the tipping point needed to meaningfully stabilise the climate.
The jury, which included Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne, Academy Award-winning producers Regina K. Scully and Geralyn White Dreyfous, and Think-Film Impact Production founder Danielle Turkov Wilson, praised the Tickells for their “dedication to telling stories that draw audiences in and inspire us with real solutions.”
The prize, launched in 2025, was previously awarded to Eugene Jarecki for his Julian Assange documentary The Six Billion Dollar Man at last year’s Cannes, and to Ross McElwee for Remake at the Venice Film Festival.
