Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

"Fire of Love" tells the story of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft who spent over two decades filming and studying volcanoes before they died getting too close to one. The documentary makes its world premiere on the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival: January 20, 2022. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews filmmaker Sara Dosa on how she crafted the story of the Kraffts into an essayistic documentary with themes of love and risk, narrated by Miranda July.Pure Nonfiction’s coverage during the Sundance Film Festival is sponsored by National Geographic Documentary Films.

The PBS Frontline documentary “American Insurrection” investigates the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the director Rick Rowley who collaborated on the project with correspondent A.C. Thompson of ProPublica and the Berkley Center for Investigative Journalism. Rowley discusses what he’s learned from studying vigilante groups such as the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys and reflects on the historic link between America’s foreign wars and the rise of homegrown militias. On Twitter: @frontlinepbs @ProPublica @ucbsoj @thompowers @PureNonfiction

In the three-part series Nuclear Family, filmmaker Ry Russo-Young explores her own family history. She was born in 1981 and grew up with two lesbian moms Russo and Robin and an older sister in Manhattan at at time when gay parenting was still rare. Her sperm donor Tom Steel was a gay lawyer in San Francisco who wound up suing Ry’s moms for paternity rights. From a young age, Ry was active in trying to tell her family’s story and defend her mothers against discrimination in the courts and in the media. Ry appeared in Meema Spadola’s PBS documentary Our House (2000) about kids of gay and lesbian parents; and was profiled in the New York Times magazine in 2004. But there were always murky areas to the lawsuit that Ry couldn’t fully confront until now.Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers helped to produce "Our House” and finally gets a chance to re-open questions with Ry that remained perplexing for over 20 years.

Sonya Childress and Jesse Wente are among the most eloquent voices calling for change in the North American documentary industry. In June 2020, Childress published A Reckoning: The Documentary Film Industry Must Chart a New Path Forward that brought a critique over questions of authorship, accountability and ownership. She draws upon her experience working with Active Voice, Firelight Media and the Perspective Fund.Wente is an Anishinaabe writer and executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO). That organization published the On-Screen Protocols and Pathways guide to working with First Nations, Métis and Inuit Communities. He’s the author of the new book Unreconciled: Family, Truth and Indigenous Resistance.Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Childress and Wente in September 2020 by teleconference for a panel titled Creating a Better Documentary Industry at the TIFF Industry Conference. This podcast excerpts the heart of the conversation as they confront questions of capitalism, journalistic objectivity and how to create meaningful change.This year's TIFF Industry Conference will take place Sept 9-14 including discussions on Documentary History, Telling Family Stories and more. You can register for a Digital Talks pass to watch anywhere in the world.

In the Same Breath is a strikingly original analysis of the early days of the pandemic as it unfolded in China and the United States. Filmmaker Nanfu Wang draws upon multiple sources of footage to study how governments shaped the messaging about coronavirus and how they missed opportunities to limit the virus. Her collaborators include her husband Michael Shade as an editor and Jialing Zhang as one of the producers. Nanfu and Jialing previously appeared on episode #115 to discuss their film One Child Nation about China’s extreme efforts to control population growth. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Nanfu about the logistical and emotional challenges of navigating China’s censorship. She discusses the lessons she learned making her first film Hooligan Sparrow, about a Chinese dissident, that was her first experience with government pressure.

“Enemies of the State” looks at the strange case of Matt DeHart, a member of the hacktivist group Anonymous who was prosecuted for child pornography. He claimed the charges were a cover up to seize his computers containing government secrets. Director Sonia Kennebeck and producer Ines Hoffman Kanna spent years trying to untangle the knotty mysteries of his case. Their previous film National Bird (2016) won the Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize for its profile of three people who worked on the U.S. military’s drone program and became whistle blowers. One of the film’s subjects Daniel Hale was recently convicted under the Espionage Act. Sonia discusses his case recently covered in The Washington Post. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Sonia about both films.Enemies of the State is now available on VOD from IFC Films.Warning: this episode reveals details from “Enemies of the State” that might be considered spoilers if you haven't seen the film.On Twitter: @soniakennebeck @c_odebreaker @thompowers @PureNonfiction

Fran Lebowitz is one of New York’s great conversationalists. Martin Scorsese's new Netflix series “Pretend It’s a City” lets her talk at length about her five decades of living in New York City. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Lebowitz about working with Scorsese and her long friendship with Toni Morrison to whom the series is dedicated. Lebowitz also shares her opinions on the New York mayoral election and discusses her mother Ruth.This interview was recorded on May 7, 2020 for DOC NYC Spring Showcase.

Documentary editor Lewis Erskine died last week at age 64. He was cherished by colleagues as a storyteller and a teacher. His Twitter handle was @editorsavant and his credits include Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, Freedom Riders and Jackie Robinson. In the days after his death, Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers spoke to three of Lewis' colleagues. Filmmaker Stanley Nelson describes first meeting Lewis when they worked for WNET public television and how they collaborated for over two decades starting with The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords. Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, who was Lewis’ assistant editor on The Black Press, celebrates his legacy as a mentor. Shola Lynch describes how she met Lewis working together on Ken Burns’ Jazz series, then later turned to him for help on her films Chisholm 72: Unbought and Unbossed and Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.Further links referenced in the conversation:Black Documentary CollectiveThe Creative Power of BIPOC Editors panelBIPOC Editors DatabaseMaster Class with Lewis Erskine and City College (2019)Lewis Erskine at Sundance 2017 “Examine Your Privilege"

“Movements are messy,” says Astra Taylor. She knows this not only from studying activist history, but also from personal experience as a co-founder of the Debt Collective. Their work succeeded in canceling over $2 billion of student debt. Astra’s new short documentary You Are Not a Loan (free on The Intercept) brings together students and professors to discuss changing the cost of education. She’s also published a new book of essays Remake the World. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to Astra about both new works. She reflects on the legacy of Occupy Wall Street and on her friend David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 Years and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, who died last year.Links to further references in this discussion:Episode 93: Astra Taylor on “What is Democracy?”Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s GoneBerkeley in the SixtiesEncounter at Kwacha HouseThe Murder of Fred Hampton

“When We Were Kings” director Leon King died on March 8 at age 84. He took over twenty years to make his Oscar-winning documentary about the boxers Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman, filmed in Zaire in 1974 and completed in 1996.Further links:Watch “When We Were Kings"Watch “Soul Power”Watch “Smash His Camera"New York Times obituary on Leon GastLeon Gast on the making of his first film “Our Latin Thing”Pure Nonfiction episode 15: Muhammad Ali on FilmThe New Yorker on William Greaves’ "The Fight"This episode's closing narration refers to the reckoning over documenting BIPOC stories. For more, read Sonya Childress & Natalie Bullock Brown in Documentary and Stanley Nelson in the Los Angeles Times.Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers explores the story of Leon's perseverance in interviews with his wife Geri Spolan-Gast, producer David Sonenberg, editor Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte and filmmaker Barbara Kopple.