Minnesota PBS has earned three 2026 Upper Midwest Emmy® Awards, recognizing the station’s work across our local productions and live programming.
From original programming about music and migration that shaped Minneapolis’ West Bank neighborhood, Dakota connections to Bdote to the community discussions shaping Minnesota today, these awards reflect the breadth of stories Minnesota PBS tells — stories that help us better understand where we come from, who we are, and the communities we share.
Here are the three Upper Midwest Emmy Awards:
The Wild West Bank Sound — Documentary-Cultural
The Wild West Bank Sound takes viewers into Minneapolis’ West Bank, a neighborhood that became an unlikely epicenter of music and culture beginning in the 1960s. Blending rare archival photographs and footage with memories from musicians and community voices, the documentary explores how immigration, creativity, and a remarkable mix of musical traditions helped shape the neighborhood’s enduring legacy.
Bdote: A Birthing Island — Diversity, Equity & Inclusion — Short or Long Form Content
Bdote: A Birthing Island explores the profound Dakota connection to the place where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet. Through Dakota oral histories and the story of Ramona Kitto Stately’s great-great-grandmother, the film reveals Bdote as a place of creation, birth, ceremony, and cultural memory while also confronting the trauma of colonization, displacement, and the U.S.-Dakota War.
Scott Trotman, Almanac — Director, Live/Recorded Live Program or Newscast
This award recognizes Scott Trotman’s direction, highlighting the production expertise behind Minnesota PBS’ live and recorded programming. The category recognizes the creative and technical leadership required to coordinate a complex live or live-to-tape production and translate it into a polished experience for viewers.