Rachel Maddow’s ‘Kill. Bury. Print.’ Wins 2026 David Carr Award

The 2026 Montclair Film Festival will present producer Rachel Maddow and director Ben Klein with its 2026 David Carr Award For Truth In Non-Fiction Filmmaking for their new true crime documentary, “Kill. Bury. Print.”

The film follows the standoff between a tiny family-run newspaper and the local sheriff’s department in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Maddow first covered the story in 2023 after the paper released secretly-recorded audio of local officials discussing killing and burying the reporters.

“This story is so brazen and thrilling, I gave it seven minutes on my show when I only had 42 minutes of airtime per week,” said Maddow, in a statement. “It contains sex, drugs, suspicious disappearances, a jailbreak, a spy pen, unspeakable crimes and an alleged murder plot — all set in a place that feels like it is from a bygone chapter of American history.”

“From the beginning, we’ve said this story feels like ‘All The President’s Men’ meets ‘No Country For Old Men,’” she added.

The Montclair Film Festival each year honors the legacy of David Carr, a popular New York Times reporter and longtime Montclair resident, by presenting an award to a film that honors his passion for the truth and his commitment to great journalism.

“On behalf of the filmmaking team, we’re very thankful to the Montclair Film Festival for this great honor,” said Ben Klein, the director, in a statement. “Our film is centered around a family of bulldog journalists, and we couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute than an award that honors the spirit of the great David Carr.”

The film will screen during next month’s festival in Montclair, New Jersey. Maddow and Klein will participate in a post-screening question-and-answer session on Saturday Oct. 17 at 8:00 p.m. at the Wellmont Theater.

This marks Maddow’s third documentary produced with Surprise Inside, the production company she founded with Phil Griffin, former president of MSNBC, now MS NOW. Her previous documentaries were 2024’s “From Russia With Lev” and 2025’s “Andrew Young: The Dirty Work.”

“Kill. Bury. Print.” will debut on the NBCUniversal streaming platform Peacock on Sunday, Sept. 27. The films represents Maddow’s first true-crime documentary; first project with Peacock; and her first documentary to screen at a film festival.

“Doing a true crime documentary is not something I ever thought I would do,” Maddow said. “Yet this story excites me, and I love Ben Klein’s vision and the sometimes creepy, often darkly funny and always beautiful way he tells it.”

“Kill. Bury. Print.” is produced by 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, a division of Universal Studio Group. Ben Warhit and Colleen Hall are executive producers.