Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams has a bounty of new releases this year. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Williams at the CPH:DOX festival about three of those works: Love to Love You, Donna Summer on HBO, The 1619 Project on Hulu and his fiction feature debut Cassandro coming this fall from Amazon Studios. Williams also discusses his stint serving on the AMPAS Board of Governors when he led a campaign to increase enrollment of women and BIPOC members. For more on Williams' career, hear his interview from 2016 on episode 13.Instagram: @onestoryup @rogerrosswilliams @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Elvis Mitchell explores the flourishing of American Black cinema from 1968 to 1978 in the documentary "Is That Black Enough for You?!?" (Netflix). Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers sat down with Elvis in their hometown of Detroit during the Freep Film Festival.The conversation delves into Elvis’s Detroit roots - with local references ranging from the Fox Theater to the Electrifying Mojo. He shares insights from his new film and explains why he left his job as a New York Times film critic.As mentioned in the podcast, here’s a link to his 2002 Pinocchio review. On Instagram: @theelvismitchell  @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Showtime's acclaimed series "Couples Therapy" is now in its third season. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers sat down with its star Dr. Orna Guralnik along with co-creators Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg and one of its directors Pax Wasserman. The interview was recorded before a live audience at New York's IFC Center.This week, Pure Nonfiction debuted the email newsletter Producer's Notebook that covers latest developments in documentary producing. You can subscribe for free at PureNonfiction.net.Instagram: @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Lisa Cortés has a multi-faceted career working for Def Jam and executive producing the award-winning fiction film "Precious". Now she's directed the documentary "Little Richard: I Am Everything" that helps to rewrite the history of rock and roll. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Lisa about her background in the Black church, the music business and her move into making documentaries.On Instagram: @misscortes @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Harry Belafonte died this week at age 96. Years ago he resolved to leave behind an account of his life in the memoir "My Song" and the documentary "Sing Your Song". Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Belafonte and his daughter Gina in 2013 as part of the Montclair Film Festival. The conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey."Sing Your Song", directed by Susanne Rostock, is available on video on demand.

E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have explored the mentality of risk takers over several films. They won an Oscar for Free Solo. Their latest documentary "Wild Life" tells the love story of Doug and Kris Tompkins who earned a fortune leading the clothing brands North Face and Patagonia, then left their corporate lives to devote themselves to conservation. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Chai and Jimmy in Copenhagen at the CPH:DOX festival where "Wild Life" had its international premiere. The film, produced by National Geographic, is being released in theaters in April and comes to Disney+ on May 26. In this conversation, the filmmaking couple also discuss their first collaboration "Meru" about a harrowing expedition that Jimmy undertook with Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk.On Instagram: @chaivasarhelyi @jimmychin @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Chase Joynt has explored transgender topics in several films including "No Ordinary Man" about jazz musician Billy Tipton and his latest "Framing Agnes", now available on VOD. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Chase to discuss how trans experience has traditionally been filtered by outsiders across the spectrums of medicine, academia and media. Chase also reflects on what it means to be releasing this film against a backdrop of backlash, violence and anti-trans legislation."Framing Agnes" premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the Next section. "Framing Agnes" draws upon a rare archive of interviews with trans and gender non-conforming people conducted in the 1950s. The interviews were undertaken by sociologist Harold Garfinkel who is portrayed by Chase in the film's reenactments. The director enlists other trans actors to perform the transcripts of subjects who were interviewed by Garfinkel. The cast includes Zackary Drucker as Agnes, Jen Richards as Barbara and Angelica Ross as Georgia.Chase gives credit to other collaborators on the project including sociologist Kristen Schilt and historian Jules Gill-Peterson. On Instagram: @chasejoynt @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny is profiled in the Oscar-nominated film “Navalny” at a critical stage when he’s trying to uncover the Russian agents who tried to kill him. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews director Daniel Roher who completed the film in his late 20s. Today, its success may seem preordained, but Daniel explains it was anything but that.

"All That Breathes" won top prizes at Sundance and Cannes for its portrayal of two brothers in New Delhi who dedicated themselves to rescuing birds from the hazards of the polluted city. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to director Shaunak Sen about how he scrapped his first year of filming to start over. Shaunak discusses the contributions of cinematographer Benjamin Bernhard ("Aquarela") and editor Charlotte Munch Bengtsen ("The Truffle Hunters") in the creation of one of the year's most visually striking films. "All That Breathes" is now playing on HBO Max.On Instagram: @purenonfiction @shaunak_sen

Joyce Chopra broke the glass ceiling for women in film by directing classic works such as the ground-breaking personal documentary "Joyce at 34" and the fiction film "Smooth Talk" that won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 1986. Those films and others are now streaming in a collection of her work on the Criterion Channel. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Joyce about her new memoir “Lady Director” where she reflects candidly on the highs and lows of her career, including her documentary education at Drew Associates and her clashes with producers Sydney Pollack and Harvey Weinstein that almost caused her to give up filmmaking.Follow @purenonfiction on Instagram; and sign up for our free newsletter.