Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

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, actress Aida Mohammadkhani ("The White Balloon"), and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.The film has been on a festival run including Berlin, CPH:DOX and Sheffield. On April 18, Pure Nonfiction will host a screening with Sreemoyee at New York’s IFC Center, co-presented by Bitchitra Collective and Scroll.in. Click here for tickets.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

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 Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

"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: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

"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 up of Simon & Garfunkel, the importance of free association in filmmaking, and hard won lessons learned in his career.Hear our previous interviews with Alex Gibney on episodes 16, 86 and 101.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

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 constructive dialogue, and more.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

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, starting March 15, 2024.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

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 Alissa discuss the state of film criticism and what's unique about reviewing nonfiction. For more on Alissa, see Alissawilkinson.com.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

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 States, Taiwan and China. Leo discusses his 2019 documentary Our Time Machine, the PBS series Asian Americans, the creation of the Asian American Documentary Network, A-Doc, and his collaborations with Jean Tsien who was interviewed on episode 130.

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 Guggenheim, Michael Harte (Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie), Moses Bwayo and Barbie Kyagulani (Bobi Wine: The People's President).Photo: Thom Powers with "Going to Mars" directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson.

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), and Maite Alberdi (The Eternal Memory).Photo: The Ankler publisher Janice Min and podcast host Thom Powers.