The film is produced, co-edited and directed by Laura Poitras,[3] and tackles Goldin's life through her advocacy during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the ‘80s, and her fight against the Sackler family for their role in the current opioid epidemic in the United States.

[4] Poitras, a long-time friend and fan, stated that "Nan's art and vision has inspired my work for years, and has influenced generations of filmmakers.

[9][10] The film then went on to win a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony for "capturing the zeal of an artist eager to use her work to create a new vision for and of the world.

"[11] The film examines the life and career of photographer and activist Nan Goldin and her efforts to hold Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, accountable for the opioid epidemic.

Goldin was initially skeptical because of Poitras' previous political films, saying "I thought I was not going to be interesting to her because I don't have any state secrets.

Shortly afterwards Poitras criticized both the Venice and Toronto festivals for screening a film produced by Hillary Clinton, In Her Hands.

The website's consensus reads, "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a bone-deep look at a photographer's fight against addiction and the institution responsible for her pain through her gritty lens.

[20] Godfrey Cheshire praised the film for being equally Poitras' and Goldin's work, stating that "there's effectively no conceptual distance between the auteur documentarian and her artist subject...the result of their sympathetic engagement is a collaboration of rare beauty and power.

The film won a Peabody Award for "capturing the zeal of an artist eager to use her work to create a new vision for and of the world" at the 84th ceremony on June 9, 2024.