Episodes

"No Other Land" is directed by a collective of two Palestinians and two Israelis. They capture lives of Palestinians in the West Bank village of Masafer Yatta that's been routinely targeted by Israeli settlers and the military with violence and home demolitions. Taking place from 2019 to 2023, the film shows an alliance form between two of the directors – Basel Adra, who lives in Masafer Yatta, and Yuval Abraham from Israel – in their efforts to expose an injustice. "No Other Land" won the Berl...

"Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" profiles the woman who holds a world record for climbing Mount Everest. But her story is much bigger than that, overcoming innumerable hardships. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews director Lucy Walker about following Lhakpa on her quest to summit Everest for her tenth time and her hope to inspire other women, especially her daughters. Lucy describes how her earlier film "Blindsight" (2006) about a group of blind Tibetan youths trying to cl...

Two years ago, Sonya Childress and Sarah Driver founded Color Congress to support documentary organizations led by people of color in the United States. They serve over 100 organizations that have long been overlooked and underfunded. Color Congress has given out grants, convened a conference, and is preparing to launch a new distribution initiative. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Sonya and Sahar about how Color Congress is filling a void and what they've learned about building alli...

"Skywalkers: A Love Story" (on Netflix) profiles the couple Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau who attempt to climb the second tallest building in the world. It's both illegal and highly dangerous. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist about how he and co-director Maria Bukhonina captured this adventure like a heist movie. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

“Sorry / Not Sorry” reexamines the case of Louis C.K. In 2017, the New York Times reported that five women accused him of sexual harassment. He responded "these stories are true." Nine months later, he returned to performing and started to reshape his story. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to filmmakers Caroline Suh and Cara Mones about what they learned when they dug deeper into his story. In the film, they speak to Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, and Megan Koester — who spoke up about his...

"Copa 71" tells the story of an international women's soccer competition held in 1971, two decades before FIFA sanctioned an official Women's World Cup. Taking place in Mexico City's massive Azteca stadium, it was the largest live audience for any women's sporting event ever. But it was erased from history. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews filmmakers Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine about how they found the participants who waited 50 years to tell their story. Subscribe to our Substac...

ESPN’s 30 for 30 broke the formula of sports documentaries by enlisting independent filmmakers. Now the series celebrates its 15th anniversary. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers recently moderated a live conversation at the DGA Theater in New York City to look at three new 30 for 30 titles. We hear from: - The Luckiest Guy in the World director Steve James and producer Marquis Daisy - Minister of Defense directors Ken Rodgers and Courtland Bragg - The Great Heisman Race of 1997 producer Carolyn ...

Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler for a live event in Los Angeles that highlighted documentary projects eligible for this year’s Emmys. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind five different feature docs: - Sarah Gibson and Erin Lee Carr on Stormy - Lance Oppenheim and Kathleen Lingo on Spermworld - Justin Wilkes, Lisa Henson, and Brian Henson on Jim Henson Idea Man - Bao Nguyen on The Greatest Night in Pop - Alex Gibney on In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Sim...

Pure Nonfiction partnered with The Ankler for a live event in Los Angeles that highlighted documentary projects eligible for this year’s Emmys. On this episode, host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind five different episodic series: - Andrew Jarecki on The Jinx - Part Two - Prentice Penny on Black Twitter: A People’s History - Sam Lipman-Stern and Adam Bhala Lough on Telemarketers - Jasha Klebe on Our Planet II - Fisher Stevens on Beckham Whether or not you’ve seen these projects, the inter...

"Flipside" is a personal essay film in which director Chris Wilcha grapples with middle age by trying to document the New Jersey record store where he worked as a teenager. In the process, he returns to multiple other documentary projects that never came to fruition - interweaving interviews with jazz photographer Herman Leonard, TV writer David Milch, radio host Ira Glass, writer Starlee Kine, director Judd Apatow, comedian Uncle Floyd, and others. This subject hits close to home for Pure Nonf...

A key trailblazer for Indian documentary Anand Patwardhan has grappled with India's most hot button political issues in films such as "Reason" and "Father, Son and the Holy War." Now in his 70s, he's releasing his most personal film "The World is Family."

Filmmaker Margreth Olin profiles her parents in "Songs of Earth" while immersing us in Norway's landscape of glaciers, fjords and waterfalls.

Rob Reiner started his directing career with the spoof documentary "This is Spinal Tap" and is now editing a sequel. He has a new documentary now playing on Max, "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" that traces six years of friendship between the two filmmakers. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

During the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, Yousef Srouji was a boy living with his family in the West Bank town of Beit Jala. His mother Suha used a camcorder to capture family life including when they were forced to take shelter from gunfire and explosions. Years later, Yousef discovered the footage and turned it into the film Three Promises that won the top jury prize at the Camden International Film Festival. Now the film is opening in New York at the DCTV Firehouse Cinema. Pure Nonficti...

Paul Cronin has spent years creating a massive oral history about the Columbia University student uprising in 1968. The work titled "A Time to Stir" was first presented publicly in 2008 as a four rough cut at the Toronto International Film Festival. Village Voice critic Scott Foundas wrote that it was "the most vital movie" of that year's festival. Ultimately, Paul recorded over 700 interviews that he compiled into a 10-part project that has a length of 15 hours. You can watch it for free on his...

"The Contestant" takes us back to the early days of reality TV in Japan. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews first time filmmaker Clair Titley about how she pulled off the film.

Thom Powers speaks with Just Vision's creative director Julia Bacha and executive director Suhad Babaa about their latest film "Boycott" and how their work changed with the recent escalation of violence.

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 ha...

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

First time filmmaker Asmae El Moudir discusses how she overcame obstacles in the eight year experience of making the film "The Mother of All Lies".

"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 lear...

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 makes her directorial debut with "Frida" about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Alissa Wilkinson stands out amongst film critics for writing extensively about documentaries.