Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

“Through the Night” profiles a 24-hour child care run by Deloris “Nunu” Hogan and her husband Patrick from their home in New Rochelle, NY. The film won a Special Jury Prize at the DOC NYC festival and was a NY Times Critic’s Pick. It had an Oscar-qualifying run in virtual cinemas and will air on POV […] The post 126: Loira Limbal on “Through the Night” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Garrett Bradley is having a moment. In January, she won the Sundance Documentary Directing Prize for her film “Time” that comes to Amazon this month; and she has a multi-channel video installation coming to MoMA in November. “Time” focuses on the quest of a New Orleans mother known as Fox Rich to get her husband out of […] The post 125: Garrett Bradley on “Time” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

“The Social Dilemma” interviews former insiders at Google, Facebook and Twitter who confess they’re now afraid of the technology they helped to create. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the film’s director Jeff Orlowski, who previously made “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing Coral.”Links to references that arise in the conversation: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now book by […] The post 124: Jeff Orlowski on “The Social Dilemma” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

The New York Times Presents episode on “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” made its debut in September, the same week as The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show. Yoruba Richen directed both documentaries and discusses them with Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers. Starting in June, Yoruba investigated the Louisville police shooting of Taylor in collaboration with […] The post 123: Yoruba Richen on Breonna Taylor & Harry Belafonte appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

The Sudanese filmmaker hajooj kuka (who spells his name in lowercase) came to prominence in 2014 with his film “Beats of the Antonov” that won the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. On September 17, 2020 he was sentenced to prison in Khartoum along with four other artists on dubious charges of […] The post 122: Free hajooj kuka appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Mark Cousins has changed the way film history is understood. He opened up a global perspective in his book and film series called The Story of Film and now he’s uncovered a hidden history in Women Make Film. The 14-part series is rolling out on TCM this fall along with 100 films by international women directors. Tilda Swinton, one of […] The post 121: Mark Cousins’ Cinematic Road Trips appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Cameron Bailey is the artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The 2020 festival takes place September 10-19 adjusting to the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic. In this interview with TIFF documentary programmer Thom Powers, Cameron discusses what shaped his career path and explains the significance of the image on his office wall […] The post 120: Cameron Bailey on #TIFF20 and Planet Africa appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Comedy meets poignancy in Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent.” The Chilean director follows a private investigator who goes undercover to infiltrate a retirement home. His client fears the staff is mistreating the residents. Inside the retirement community, the mole agent Sergio witnesses a generation struggling with loneliness and lost connections to their families. Alberdi’s earlier film […] The post 119: Going Undercover with “The Mole Agent” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Ja’Tovia Gary was recently profiled in The New York Times. If you don’t know her work yet, let this podcast be your introduction. Her most recent project “The Giverny Document” exists both as a 42-minute film and an art installation. It’s a work that makes eclectic connections between Nina Simone, Claude Monet’s gardens and the police killing […] The post 118: Meet Ja’Tovia Gary appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

McMillion$ is a 6-part HBO series that details an elaborate scam over the McDonald’s Monopoly game. For over 10 years, the key game pieces worth up to a million dollars were being stolen and given to hand-picked “winners.” Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte who spent several […] The post 117: The Making of McMillion$ appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Brown Girls Doc Mafia started as an impromptu meet up in 2015 and has grown into an organization with a membership of more than 4000 women and non-binary people of color working in documentary.Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the group’s founder Iyabo Boyd. She talks about her work at the grant funder Chicken & […] The post 116: Iyabo Boyd of Brown Girls Doc Mafia appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

“One Child Nation” investigates China’s policy of pressuring families to have only one child. Filmmakers Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang grew up in China during the years of the policy that lasted from 1979 to 2015. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews them about the making of the film and their strategies to avoid government […] The post 115: Uncovering China’s “One Child Nation” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

The Oscar-nominated documentary “For Sama” takes a personal journey through the war in Syria. Waad Al-Kateab became a citizen journalist, capturing the siege of Aleppo and events of her own life. We watch her fall in love and get married to a doctor, Hamza, who shares her commitment to stay in Aleppo. The film is […] The post 114: “For Sama” Inside Syria appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Barack and Michelle Obama picked the film “American Factory” to be the first film backed by their company Higher Ground. Now the film is Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature and available on Netflix.  Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert about their long history filming inside the factory in […] The post 113: Inside “American Factory” appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Hear insider tips and exclusive clips on documentaries at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers got an early look at over 25 films premiering at the festival. In this annual preview episode he discusses his favorites that will be looking to secure distribution deals. Last year, our Sundance Preview gave listeners early exposure […] The post 112: Sundance 2020 Preview appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Toni Morrison, who passed away in August at age 88, is the subject of a new documentary currently in theaters “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.” Filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders had known Morrison since the early 1980s when he began photographing her. In 2006, she gave him the inspiration to create the documentary trilogy “The Black […] The post 111: Profiling Toni Morrison appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

“Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower” on Netflix follows the Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong who started leading protests at the age of 14. His actions helped give rise to a democracy movement that brought over a million people to the streets this summer. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Joshua and the film’s director Joe Piscatella […] The post 110: Joshua Wong on Hong Kong appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

Beto O’Rourke rose from obscurity to political stardom in 2018 when he ran for the Texas Senate seat against incumbent Ted Cruz. Filmmaker David Modigliani follows that journey in “Running with Beto,” now playing on HBO. On this podcast, Modigliani is joined by three Beto volunteers who are prominently featured in the film: Shannon Gay, […] The post 109: Running with Beto appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

“Diego Maradona”, making its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, is the latest from director Asif Kapadia. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Asif about that film along with his previous documentaries “Senna” (about Formula One race car driver Ayrton Senna) and the Oscar-winning “Amy” (about singer Amy Winehouse). Their conversation took place […] The post 108: Asif Kapadia on Ayrton Senna, Amy Winehouse & Diego Maradona appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.

“Knock Down the House” captures four working class candidates running for Congress in West Virginia, Nevada, Missouri and New York City. That last one is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who overcame enormous odds to become the youngest woman elected to Congress at age 29. Director/producer/cinematographer Rachel Lears and her husband producer/editor Robin Blotnick follow AOC early on […] The post 107: Rachel Lears on filming Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared first on Pure Nonfiction.