Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

ESPN’s 30 for 30 broke the formula of sports documentaries by enlisting independent filmmakers. Now the series celebrates its 15th anniversary. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers recently moderated a live conversation at the DGA Theater in New York City to look at three new 30 for 30 titles. We hear from: - The Luckiest Guy in the World director Steve James and producer Marquis Daisy - Minister of D...

Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler for a live event in Los Angeles that highlighted documentary projects eligible for this year’s Emmys. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind five different feature docs: - Sarah Gibson and Erin Lee Carr on Stormy - Lance Oppenheim and Kathleen Lingo on Spermworld - Justin Wilkes , Lisa Henson , and Brian Henson on Jim Henson Idea Man...

Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler for a live event in Los Angeles that highlighted documentary projects eligible for this year’s Emmys. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind five different episodic series : - Andrew Jarecki on The Jinx - Part Two - Prentice Penny on  Black Twitter: A People’s History - Sam Lipman-Stern and Adam Bhala Lough on  Telemarketer...

"Flipside" is a personal essay film in which director Chris Wilcha grapples with middle age by trying to document the New Jersey record store where he worked as a teenager. In the process, he returns to multiple other documentary projects that never came to fruition - interweaving interviews with jazz photographer Herman Leonard, TV writer David Milch, radio host Ira Glass, writer Starlee Kin...

Indian documentary film has been gaining world renown with Peabody Awards, Oscar nominations and other recognition. A key trailblazer for this movement is Anand Patwardhan who has grappled with India's most hot button political issues in films such as "Reason" and "Father, Son and the Holy War." Now in his 70s, he's releasing his most personal film "The World is Family." He profiles his parents wh...

"Songs of Earth" is both a love story and a cinematic exploration of nature. Filmmaker Margreth Olin profiles her parents while immersing us in Norway's landscape of glaciers, fjords and waterfalls. After winning acclaim at festivals from CPH:DOX to TIFF, the film is now playing in U.S. theaters from  Strand Releasing . It begs to be experienced on a big screen. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powe...

Rob Reiner started his directing career with the spoof documentary "This is Spinal Tap" and is now editing a sequel. He has a new documentary now playing on Max, "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" that traces six years of friendship between the two filmmakers. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

During the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, Yousef Srouji was a boy living with his family in the West Bank town of Beit Jala. His mother Suha used a camcorder to capture family life including when they were forced to take shelter from gunfire and explosions. Years later, Yousef discovered the footage and turned it into the film  Three Promises  that won the top jury prize at the Camd...

Paul Cronin has spent years creating a massive oral history about the Columbia University student uprising in 1968. The work titled "A Time to Stir" was first presented publicly in 2008 as a four rough cut at the Toronto International Film Festival. Village Voice critic Scott Foundas wrote that it was "the most vital movie" of that year's festival. Ultimately, Paul recorded over 700 interviews tha...

"The Contestant" takes us back to the early days of reality TV in Japan. An aspiring comedian named nicknamed Nasubi ("eggplant") auditions for the hit show Denpa Shonen, known for real people performing crazy stunts. The show’s producer Toshio Tsuchiya brings Nasubi to a room and tells him to get undressed. The room contains a rack of magazines and little else. Toshio informs Nasubi that he needs...

The non-profit Just Vision has a long history of covering Israel-Palestine in documentary films such as "Encounter Point," and "Budrus." Currently all their films are available for free at justvision.org . Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers speaks with the group's creative director Julia Bacha and executive director Suhad Babaa about their latest film "Boycott" and how their work changed with the re...

Growing up in Kolkata, Sreemoyee Singh fell in love with Iranian cinema and poetry. She pursued that passion by moving to Iran, learning Persian and capturing her journey in her debut documentary "And, Towards Happy Alleys." The title comes from a poem by Forough Farrokhzad who was a major inspiration for Sreemoyee. During her trip, she meets with filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Shirvani, act...

Mila Turajlić has spent over 20 years exploring the legacy of Yugoslavia. Now she has two new films that draw upon the extraordinary archive of cameraman Stevan Labudovic who traveled the world in the 1950s and 60s capturing the anti-colonial fight for independence across Africa and Asia. The films are "Non-Aligned" and "Ciné-Guerillas" both subtitled "Scenes from the Labudovic Reels." On Instagra...

"The Mother of All Lies" won the Cannes Film Festival directing prize for Un Certain Regard and was Morocco's official submission for the Oscars. First time filmmaker Asmae El Moudir discusses how she overcame obstacles in the eight year experience of making the film. Host Thom Powers interviewed Asmae in front of a live audience at the CPH:DOX festival. Watch the film's trailer . On Instagram: @p...

"In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon" covers the highs and lows of the musician's career as he goes into the studio to create his most recent album "Seven Psalms" that was released in 2023 to critical acclaim. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed filmmaker Alex Gibney live at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. Alex describes how he approached sensitive topics including the break u...

In his book "The Persuaders," Anand Giridharadas profiles activists and organizers who seek to change people's minds in a time of divisiveness. Host Thom Powers interviews Anand about how he found optimism in the work of persuaders such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Loretta Ross. They also discuss what replaces the concept of objectivity in journalism, the relationship of social media to constru...

Carla Gutierrez is a renowned documentary editor, known for films such as "RBG" and "Julia." Now she makes her directorial debut with "Frida" about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Carla about her bold choices to tell the story mainly through Frida's own words and bring movement to the paintings through animation. "Frida" is streaming on Amazon Prime, sta...

Alissa Wilkinson stands out amongst film critics for writing extensively about documentaries. She was based at Vox.com for many years, but a few months ago she moved to The New York Times  where she launched a column called Documentary Download. This was welcome news to Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers who years ago wrote the wishful post  Wanted: Documentary Critics . Thom and...

Filmmaker S. Leo Chiang reflects on the relations between Taiwan and China in the Oscar nominated short "Island in Between" streaming from The New York Times Op-Docs . Leo travels to the Kinmen Islands that belong to Taiwan, but lie near the coast of China on the front lines of geopolitics. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Leo about the film and his career working between the United Sta...

Fifteen films have been chosen for the Oscars documentary short list, the round that comes before nominations. Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler to spotlight seven of the Oscar contenders at a live event in Los Angeles on January 4, 2024. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson, Tommy Oliver ( Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project ), Davis Guggenhe...

Fifteen films have been chosen for the Oscars documentary short list, the round that comes before nominations. Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler to spotlight seven of the Oscar contenders at a live event in Los Angeles on January 4, 2024. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews Luke Lorentzen ( A Still Small Voice ), Nisha Pahuja ( To Kill a Tiger ), Lauren Domino ( American Symphony...

In "The Disappearance of Shere Hite," Oscar-nominated director Nicole Newnham ("Crip Camp") profiles the sex researcher who soared to success in the 1970s, but then faded into obscurity. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to Newnham about navigating Hite's complex personality, how the film team uncovered the author's private writings and brought them to life with the collaboration of Dakota Jo...

Filmmaker Julie Cohen ("RBG") profiles three intersex activists in her new film "Every Body," now streaming on Peacock. One of those activists is Alicia Roth Weigel who recently published her memoir "Inverse Cowgirl". Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews them about dispelling misinformation and celebrating intersex lives.

In his new film "Silver Dollar Road," Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck ("I Am Not Your Negro") focuses on the Reels family in North Carolina, who fought for decades to protect their waterfront property passed down from generation to generation. The film chronicles how the Reels withstood fraudulent land claims, violence, and having two family members sent to jail for eight years because they re...

Associated Press videographer Mstyslav Chernov won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Russia's war against Ukraine. When the war escalated in February 2022, Mstyslav covered the front lines for his documentary "20 Days in Mariupol". The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will begin streaming on PBS Frontline on November 21st. It's been selected for the DOC NYC Short List that's k...