Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film
If you love documentary films, hear from the top storytellers on Pure Nonfiction. Host Thom Powers is well-connected in this world as a documentary curator for the Toronto International Film Festival, DOC NYC, and SundanceNow Doc Club. He leads conversations that are frank, funny and revealing. Listen to interviews with Oscar-winning filmmakers Barbara Kopple, Alex Gibney, and Roger Ross Williams; as well as the directors of “Making a Murderer,” “Weiner” and “OJ: Made in America.” Often the stories behind the scenes are as dramatic as what’s on the screen. On Twitter, Facebook, Instagram: @purenonfiction. Subscribe now.
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 38 minutes
- Episodes
- 230
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
228: Contessa Gayles on "Songs From the Hole"
"Songs From the Hole," now playing on Netflix, won the SXSW Audience Award and the Blackstar Jury Prize for its artful approach to telling a story about solitary confinement. "It's eye-opening in a w…
00:24:26 |
Thu 28 Aug 2025
227: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady on "Folktales"
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have been making films as a team for over 20 years. They have a fierce dedication to the art of observational documentary, even as that form becomes harder to finance. Am…
00:30:17 |
Thu 24 Jul 2025
226: Martha Stewart, Alice Waters, John Williams
Our Emmy contender conversations conclude with a look at three stand out biographies. Host Thom Powers interviews these directors:
R.J. Cutler on "Martha" (Netflix)
David Gelb with cinematographer…
00:47:55 |
Fri 13 Jun 2025
225: Will & Harper, Social Studies, Chimp Crazy
Thom Powers hosts conversations on three Emmy contenders:
"Will & Harper" (Netflix) with participant Harper Steele
"Social Studies" (FX) with director Lauren Greenfield and participants Sydney Shea…
00:47:28 |
Thu 12 Jun 2025
224: Emmy contenders
Recorded live in New York City, Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the filmmakers behind four Emmy contenders:
Michelle Khare of "Challenge Accepted" (YouTube)
Lance Oppenheim of "Ren Fair…
01:00:52 |
Fri 30 May 2025
223: Questlove, Reginald Hudlin, David Tedeschi
Live from New York City, Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the directors behind several projects contending for Emmy nominations:
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson on "Ladies and Gentlemen...50 Y…
01:03:32 |
Thu 29 May 2025
222: Sam Soko on telling African stories
Kenya's Sam Soko is a prominent figure in the rising wave of African documentary. He won international attention for his films Softie and Free Money at Sundance, TIFF and elsewhere. In this interview…
00:42:24 |
Thu 08 May 2025
221: Sinead O'Shea on Edna O'Brien
"Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story" profiles the Irish novelist who broke taboos both in her writing and her personal life. Her early novels were denounced by the Catholic Church and banned by the Ir…
00:43:51 |
Thu 17 Apr 2025
220: Jeremy Workman on "Secret Mall Apartment"
“Secret Mall Apartment” tells the story of a group of artists who found a hidden space a Rhode Island mega mall that they occupied for four years while evading security. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Pow…
00:50:14 |
Thu 27 Mar 2025
219: Frederick Wiseman at 95
Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution is the title of a career retrospective currently running at New York's Film at Lincoln Center through March 5. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews W…
00:38:57 |
Fri 14 Feb 2025
218: Shortlisters, part 2
Four interviews about films on the Oscars Shortlist for Documentary Feature: supervising editor David Teague and animator Renata Galindo on FRIDA; co-director Angela Patton on DAUGHTERS; producer Raf…
00:51:40 |
Thu 09 Jan 2025
217: Shortlisters, part 1
Three interviews about films on the Oscars Shortlist for Documentary Feature: Stephen Maing and Brett Story on UNION; Laurie Anderson and Gary Hustwit on ENO; Slava Leontyev, Paula Dupre' Pesman, and…
00:47:19 |
Wed 08 Jan 2025
216: "Queendom" with Agniia Galdanova & Igor Myakotin
"Queendom" profiles the non-binary Russian performance artist Jenna Marvin. We watch her challenge Russia's repressive laws against the LGBTQ+ community and protest the country's war on Ukraine, putt…
00:39:05 |
Tue 07 Jan 2025
215: Ibrahim Nash'at on "Hollywoodgate"
After Afghanistan experienced a change of power in 2021, Egyptian filmmaker Ibrahim Nash'at embedded himself in the country and documented how the Taliban took control of over $7 billion worth of U.S…
00:31:33 |
Mon 06 Jan 2025
214: Adam Kinzinger & Steve Pink on "The Last Republican"
Adam Kinzinger was the first Republican Congressman to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump after the Jan 6 insurrection. That caught the attention of the Hollywood comedy writer and director Ste…
00:31:02 |
Thu 02 Jan 2025
213: Alex Gibney & Alexis Bloom on "The Bibi Files"
"The Bibi Files" looks at the corruption case against Benjamin Netanyahu, drawing upon a vast trove of leaked interrogation footage. Netanyahu went to court trying to block the film from being shown,…
00:46:06 |
Tue 31 Dec 2024
212: William Kentridge on "Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot"
William Kentridge is well-known in the world of museums and galleries. Now he brings together all of his artistic disciplines - drawing, animation, sculpture and performance - to create the 9-part fi…
00:34:11 |
Tue 10 Dec 2024
211: Live from London
Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the directors of four films in the inaugural London edition of Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler.
Follow the links below to see the film t…
01:13:55 |
Thu 05 Dec 2024
210: Brian Eno & Ibelin
Brian Eno and filmmaker Gary Hustwit discuss their film "Eno"; and director Benjamin Ree talks about "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" with Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers. Both interviews were record…
00:38:43 |
Wed 04 Dec 2024
209: Raoul Peck on Ernest Cole, George Orwell & Haiti
"Ernest Cole: Lost and Found" explores the legacy of the photographer who covered apartheid in the 1960s from the perspective of a Black South African. Cole was driven into exile in the U.S. and Euro…
00:38:40 |
Wed 27 Nov 2024
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