Episodes

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.

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 Ame...

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 P...

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 ...