Sam Pollard and Samantha N. Sheppard on Bill Russell: Legend

With an award-winning filmography that includes the epochal Civil Rights series Eyes on the Prize, 2020’s MLK/FBI, and 2021’s Citizen Ashe, among many others, documentarian Sam Pollard has changed the way we read history. Pollard is also an editor and producer, working with filmmakers like Spike Lee and Bill Gunn. Simply put, the guy is a legend. Which brings us to his latest film, the new two-part documentary Bill Russell: Legend, which digs deep into the life and career of one of the greatest basketball players of all time. The winner of a record 11 championships with the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969, including two as a player coach, Bill Russell broke many boundaries, both on the court and off. Pollard’s film is a remarkably nuanced portrait of a complex figure who, as a record-breaking athlete and active participant in the Civil Rights movement, stood at the intersections of sports, celebrity, and race in America. FC co-deputy editor Clinton Krute invited Pollard on the podcast to discuss his new film with scholar Samantha N. Sheppard, whose 2020 book Sporting Blackness: Race, Embodiment, and Critical Muscle Memory on Screen is an expansive analysis of sports documentaries and representations of Blackness on screen. We discussed the intensive research process behind the film, how the genre of the sports documentary can be used to rewrite history, and the legacy and life of Russell, who passed away in July 2022.