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
168: Vinay Shukla on "While We Watched"
"While We Watched" profiles the Indian TV journalist Ravish Kumar during a period when he's under extreme pressure including death threats for trying to do his job. The film is a cautionary tale over…
00:40:42 |
Thu 05 Oct 2023
167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"
"Casa Susanna," playing on PBS Passport, tells the secret history of a Catskills resort in the late 1950s and early 1960s that was a safe haven for transgender expression. Pure Nonfiction host Thom P…
00:39:12 |
Thu 24 Aug 2023
166: Maite Alberdi on "The Eternal Memory"
Maite Alberdi has become Chile’s most prominent documentary maker. Her films include "Tea Time," about a monthly salon of women; "The Grown-Ups", about adults with Downs Syndrome; and "The Mole Agent…
00:36:51 |
Thu 17 Aug 2023
165: D. Smith on "Kokomo City"
No shade to Barbie, but our favorite summer film is "Kokomo City" that won audience prizes in Sundance and Berlin for its raw and raucous profile of four black transgender sex workers.
00:39:29 |
Thu 10 Aug 2023
164: Asif Kapadia on Highs and Lows
In this wide-ranging conversation, Asif Kapadia speaks about the setbacks and breakthroughs in his career. The topics include his clash with Harvey Weinstein over his fiction feature "The Warrior" an…
00:37:35 |
Thu 22 Jun 2023
163: John Leguizamo Does America
John Leguizamo has a versatile writing and acting career from Broadway to Hollywood. Now he hosts the series "Leguizamo Does America" that explores Latin American communities across the country.
00:32:12 |
Thu 08 Jun 2023
162: Roger Ross Williams on Donna Summer, "The 1619 Project" and "Cassandro"
Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams has a bounty of new releases this year. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Williams at the CPH:DOX festival about three of those works: Love to Lo…
00:43:25 |
Tue 30 May 2023
161: Elvis Mitchell on "Is That Black Enough for You?!?"
Elvis Mitchell explores the flourishing of American Black cinema from 1968 to 1978 in the documentary "Is That Black Enough for You?!?" (Netflix). Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers sat down with Elvis…
00:36:15 |
Thu 18 May 2023
160: Inside "Couples Therapy"
Showtime's acclaimed series "Couples Therapy" is now in its third season. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers sat down with its star Dr. Orna Guralnik along with co-creators Josh Kriegman and Elyse Stei…
00:33:02 |
Thu 11 May 2023
159: Lisa Cortés on "Little Richard: I Am Everything"
Lisa Cortés has a multi-faceted career working for Def Jam and executive producing the award-winning fiction film "Precious". Now she's directed the documentary "Little Richard: I Am Everything" that…
00:41:34 |
Thu 04 May 2023
158: Harry Belafonte on "Sing Your Song"
Harry Belafonte died this week at age 96. Years ago he resolved to leave behind an account of his life in the memoir "My Song" and the documentary "Sing Your Song". Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers i…
00:34:30 |
Thu 27 Apr 2023
157: E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin on "Wild Life"
E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have explored the mentality of risk takers over several films. They won an Oscar for Free Solo. Their latest documentary "Wild Life" tells the love story of Doug and…
00:33:28 |
Thu 13 Apr 2023
156: Chase Joynt Explores Transgender History in "Framing Agnes"
Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Chase to discuss how trans experience has traditionally been filtered by outsiders across the spectrums of medicine, academia and media. Chase also reflect…
00:36:52 |
Thu 06 Apr 2023
155: Daniel Roher on "Navalny"
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny is profiled in the Oscar-nominated film "Navalny" at a critical stage when he’s trying to uncover the Russian agents who tried to kill him.
00:43:25 |
Fri 03 Mar 2023
154: Oscar-nominated Shaunak Sen on "All That Breathes"
"All That Breathes" portrays two brothers in New Delhi who dedicated themselves to rescuing birds from the hazards of the polluted city. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to director Shaunak Sen…
00:29:03 |
Tue 07 Feb 2023
153: Joyce Chopra on "Lady Director"
Joyce Chopra broke the glass ceiling for women in film by directing classic works such as the ground-breaking personal documentary "Joyce at 34" and the fiction film "Smooth Talk". Pure Nonfiction ho…
00:31:39 |
Tue 31 Jan 2023
152: Violet Du Feng on "Hidden Letters"
During China's feudal era, women kept in seclusion developed a secret language called nüshu. Hidden Letters profiles two millennial women in China who are among the very few people keeping the langua…
00:34:30 |
Tue 10 Jan 2023
151: Rebeca Huntt on "Beba"
Rebeca Huntt uses the medium of film to explore the personal, political and poetic in in her debut documentary "Beba".
00:32:16 |
Mon 05 Dec 2022
150: “La Madrina” of the South Bronx
La Madrina: The [Savage] Life of Lorine Padilla profiles the South Bronx “godmother” who transitioned from life in the Savage Skulls street gang to become a beloved community activist. Filmmaker Raqu…
00:28:39 |
Thu 14 Apr 2022
149: W. Kamau Bell on "We Need to Talk About Cosby"
W. Kamau Bell has a wide-ranging career in stand-up comedy, TV hosting, podcasting, and more. Now he directs the four-part Showtime series "We Need to Talk About Cosby".
00:28:58 |
Thu 24 Feb 2022
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