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
188: Margreth Olin on "Songs of Earth"
"Songs of Earth" is both a love story and a cinematic exploration of nature. Filmmaker Margreth Olin profiles her parents while immersing us in Norway's landscape of glaciers, fjords and waterfalls. …
00:42:53 |
Thu 23 May 2024
187: Rob Reiner on Albert Brooks and Spinal Tap
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" th…
00:32:26 |
Thu 16 May 2024
186: Yousef Srouji on Palestinian Home Movies
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 whe…
00:42:12 |
Thu 09 May 2024
185: Paul Cronin on Columbia 1968
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 rou…
00:57:05 |
Tue 07 May 2024
184: Clair Titley on "The Contestant"
"The Contestant" takes us back to the early days of reality TV in Japan. An aspiring comedian named nicknamed Nasubi ("eggplant") auditions for the hit show Denpa Shonen, known for real people perfor…
00:33:11 |
Thu 02 May 2024
183: Just Vision’s Julia Bacha and Suhad Babaa on 20 Years of Covering Israel-Palestine
The non-profit Just Vision has a long history of covering Israel-Palestine in documentary films such as "Encounter Point," and "Budrus." Currently all their films are available for free at justvision…
00:49:03 |
Thu 18 Apr 2024
182: Sreemoyee Singh — from India to Iran
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 "An…
00:41:41 |
Thu 11 Apr 2024
181: Mila Turajlić on Non-Aligned
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 th…
00:49:51 |
Thu 04 Apr 2024
180: Asmae El Moudir on "The Mother of All Lies"
"The Mother of All Lies" won the Cannes Film Festival directing prize for Un Certain Regard and was Morocco's official submission for the Oscars. First time filmmaker Asmae El Moudir discusses how sh…
00:24:55 |
Thu 28 Mar 2024
179: Alex Gibney on Paul Simon
"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…
00:50:17 |
Thu 21 Mar 2024
178: Anand Giridharadas on "The Persuaders"
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 op…
00:48:19 |
Thu 14 Mar 2024
177: Carla Gutierrez on "Frida"
Carla Gutierrez is a renowned documentary editor, known for films such as "RBG" and "Julia." Now she makes her directorial debut with "Frida" about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
00:48:36 |
Thu 07 Mar 2024
176: Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times
Alissa Wilkinson stands out amongst film critics for writing extensively about documentaries. Thom and Alissa discuss the state of film criticism and what's unique about reviewing nonfiction.
00:54:30 |
Thu 29 Feb 2024
175: S. Leo Chiang on "Island in Between"
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 Island…
00:40:30 |
Thu 15 Feb 2024
174: Oscar contenders, part 2
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…
00:43:17 |
Fri 12 Jan 2024
173: Oscar contenders, part 1
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).
00:53:36 |
Thu 11 Jan 2024
172: Nicole Newnham on “The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
In "The Disappearance of Shere Hite," Oscar-nominated director Nicole Newnham ("Crip Camp") profiles the sex researcher who soared to success in the 1970s, but then faded into obscurity. Pure Nonfict…
00:46:57 |
Thu 30 Nov 2023
171: "Every Body" Profiles Intersex Activists
Filmmaker Julie Cohen ("RBG") profiles three intersex activists in her new film "Every Body," now streaming on Peacock. One of those activists is Alicia Roth Weigel who recently published her memoir …
00:43:03 |
Wed 22 Nov 2023
170: Raoul Peck on "Silver Dollar Road"
In his new film "Silver Dollar Road," Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck ("I Am Not Your Negro") focuses on the Reels family in North Carolina, who fought for decades to protect their waterfront pro…
00:42:01 |
Thu 16 Nov 2023
169: Mstyslav Chernov on “20 Days in Mariupol"
Associated Press videographer Mstyslav Chernov won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Russia's war against Ukraine. When the war escalated in February 2022, Mstyslav covered the front lines for h…
00:36:21 |
Thu 26 Oct 2023
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