Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

The new Hollywood film “Judas and the Black Messiah” is based on the lives of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and the person who betrayed him, FBI informant William O’Neal. The film’s director Shaka King has credited documentaries for playing a key role in his research. One of his main influences was “Eyes on the Prize II” (1990) that scored the journalistic feat of interviewing O’Neal after he had gone into a federal witness protection program. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews four members of the “Eyes” team - directors Louis Massiah and Terry Kay Rockefeller along with researchers Noland Walker and co-director Bennett Singer. They describe how they got O’Neal to talk, why questions still linger about his reported suicide, and the legacy of the Black Panthers.Further resources:- Learn more about our guests: Louis Massiah (executive director, Scribe Video Center), Terry Kay Rockefeller, Bennett Singer (co-director, Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin and Cured), Noland Walker (co-programmer, ITVS’s Independent Lens)- Watch all 14 episodes of Eyes on the Prize on Kanopy This podcast conversation touches upon episode 9 “Power!” about the Black Panthers and especially focuses on episode 12 “A Nation of Law?” both co-directed by Louis Massiah and Terry Kay Rockefeller. Read the book Voices of Freedom, an oral history based on interviews from "Eyes on the Prize,” edited in part by Bennett Singer.- Watch the raw footage of William O’Neal’s interview on Vimeo or read the transcript from the "Eyes on the Prize" archives at Washington University. Browse the full collection.- Watch The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971), directed by Howard Alk and Michael Gray, on Vimeo from the Chicago Film Archives.- Read the TruthOut article by Fred Hampton’s attorney Flint Taylor on recent revelations about J. Edgar Hoover’s connection to William O’Neal.- Read articles from 1990 about the death of William O’Neal in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Reader.- Listen to the Pure Nonfiction interview with Jon Else discussing his book True South about the making of "Eyes on the Prize.”- For more on COINTELPRO, watch Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI about surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr; Johanna Hamilton’s 1971 about the break-in to a FBI office that revealed the counter intelligence program.- Watch Stanley Nelson’s Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.- In the podcast, Noland Walker mentions the COINTELPRO plan to disrupt the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana. Watch William Greaves’ recently restored film Nationtime covering that event.- For further viewing related to this era, watch Shola Lynch's Free Angela and All Political Prisoners and Sam Green and Bill Siegel’s Weather Underground.- For more recent documentaries on FBI surveillance and informants, see Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s (T)ERROR, Assia Boundaoui’s The Feeling of Being Watched, Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega’s Better This World and Jamie Meltzer’s Informant.

True crime documentaries are booming. But what do they tell us about criminal justice and what do they leave out? Alex Vitale, the author of the book “The End of Policing,” talks to Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers about the state of the genre. Alex gives favorable takes on the Netflix series “Time: The Kalief Browder Story” and Errol Morris’ classic “The Thin Blue Line.” But he raises questions about other trends. For more on this topic, listen to the podcast “Running from COPS.”

Jean Tsien has worked as a documentary editor for over 30 years with directors such as Orlando Bagwell, Barbara Kopple, and Roger Ross Williams. She’s been a mentor to emerging filmmakers, not only in the U.S. but also in China and Taiwan where she lived until moving to New York at age 11. Now Jean has moved into producing. Her latest project is "76 Days," set in Wuhan, China during the city’s lockdown for Covid-19. DOC NYC recently honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Jean has stories to tell, but normally prefers to stay behind the scenes. Talking on a podcast? That’s way outside her comfort zone. She explains why to Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers.

“Don’t film if you can live without filming.” Those are the words of Victor Kossakovsky from his 10 Rules of documentary making. Those rules are the starting point for a wide-ranging conversation with Victor along with Kirsten Johnson and Garrett Bradley, moderated by Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers. All three directors were part of DOC NYC’s 2020 Short List for feature documentaries. Kirsten was previously on episode 24 discussing her previous film Cameraperson; her latest film is Dick Johnson is Dead on Netflix. Garrett was previously on episode 125 discussing her new film Time on Amazon Prime. Victor’s new film is Gunda, distributed in the U.S. by Neon. In this conversation he also refers to his earlier films Losev and The Belovs.

Filmmaker Bao Nguyen profiles Bruce Lee, searching for the man behind the icon, in the ESPN documentary “Be Water.” Bao’s other films include his history of Saturday Night Live “Live from New York” and a short film about his Vietnamese-American family “Where Are You Really From?” In this interview with Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers, Bao describes his intent to place Lee’s story in the context of being Asian-American. Bao invokes the poet Ocean Vuong in reflecting on the expectations placed on Asian-American storytellers.

Journalist Robert Fisk died in October at age 74. He spent decades reporting in the Middle East as a newspaper columnist and the author of books including “Pity the Nation” and “The Great War for Civilization.” Filmmaker Yung Chang profiles Fisk in the film “This is Not a Movie.”Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Fisk and Chang at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival where the documentary has its world premiere.On Twitter: @yungfilms @thompowers @PureNonfiction

“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 in the spring. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to the director Loira Limbal about her hopes and fears in making the film. She’s known in the documentary community for her behind the scenes role at Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab where she’s been a mentor to other filmmakers of color. She talks about the gap after her 2009 directing debut “Estilo Hip Hop” (co-directed by Vee Bravo) and what it took to embark on “Through the Night” while also holding a full-time job and being a single mother.On Twitter: @DJLaylo @ThrutheNightDoc @thompowers @PureNonfiction

Garrett references the 2010 article in The New York Times What Is It About 20-Somethings? For further reading, see interviews with her in The New York Times, Filmmaker Magazine, and Film Comment. On Twitter: @thompowers @PureNonfiction

Links to references that arise in the conversation:Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now book by Jaron LanierThe Mechanics and Psychology Behind the Social Dilemma Medium article by Jeff Seibert Moment led by Tim KendallOne Project led by Justin RosensteinThe Center for Humane Technology led by Tristan HarrisI Have Blood on My Hands Buzzfeed article on Facebook whistleblower Sophie ZhangCoded Bias documentary directed by Shalini KantayyaWeapons of Math Destruction book by Cathy O’NeilAlgorithms of Oppression book by Safiya Umoja Noble

On Twitter: @redrubes14 @thompowers @PureNonfiction