"I didn’t know the name Kay Graham until 2017,” says George Kunhardt, a producer and director of the new documentary Becoming Katharine Graham, which will premiere today on Prime Video. Kunhardt was working on another documentary, The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee, at the time and says, “I wasn’t the only person on our team who wasn’t familiar with her or how important she was.”
That’s all changed. The film, directed by George and his brother Teddy, tells the story of the legendary Washington Post publisher who defied presidents and changed the course of history through her fearless leadership of a newspaper she inherited through an unexpected twist of fate.
“Katharine Graham’s story is both timeless and relevant in 2025,” Teddy Kunhardt says. “Her leadership, integrity, and courage defending a free press resonates today more than ever. Over the years, we have produced feature documentaries on Gloria Steinem, Warren Buffett, Richard Nixon, and Ben Bradlee. As we researched each of these individuals, their stories all referenced Kay. It was only a matter of time before we gave her the spotlight she deserves.”
Katharine Graham with Truman Capote and the 1966 Black and White Ball, at which she was the guest of honor.
The film follows Graham’s privileged upbringing as the daughter of Post owner Eugene Meyer and her own early foray into journalism. Eventually, her husband, Philip Graham, took over the paper, but after his suicide in 1963, it was Katharine Graham who successfully steered the company to stunning success. Along the way, she made friends (and occasionally foes) with a who’s who of world leaders, literary legends, and social titans. For a full picture, one might read Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Personal History , but there’s only so much of such a large life that the filmmakers could fit into a single movie—and however gripping Becoming Katharine Graham is, cuts still needed to be made.
“We barely scratched the surface with Kay and her husband Phil's relationship with John and Jackie Kennedy,” Teddy says. “Phil was friends with President Kennedy and President Johnson—and he worked very closely with both administrations. It was Phil who helped persuade Jack to choose Lyndon as his Vice President, going against pushback from Bobby Kennedy. There is another feature documentary to be made about the weeks leading up to John Kennedy's decision to select Lyndon Johnson, all brokered by Phil Graham. Ultimately, our film focuses on Kay, and we did not have the time to include it.”
Another famous moment for Mrs. Graham also ended up on the editing room floor: “We did build a fun section on Truman Capote's Black and White Ball with Kay as the guest of honor,” Teddy says. “The footage and photos were striking, but again, it was cut for time.”
Still, there’s more than enough on screen to serve as a reminder of the tremendous importance Graham held in her time—and the lessons to be learned from her in our own. “When Kay took over The Washington Post, no one expected her to succeed, let alone thrive,” George says. “She grew the paper into a juggernaut, through very difficult times. She had the courage to trust her journalists and support them when President Nixon was doing everything possible to undermine her and bring the paper down. Although she admitted later that deep down, she was afraid, she never stopped standing up for what was right. She always trusted her own moral compass and did the right thing.”
Teddy adds, “Ultimately, her perseverance and leadership changed the course of history.”
Here, T&C has an exclusive first look at the documentary’s trailer.