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
108: Asif Kapadia on Ayrton Senna, Amy Winehouse & Diego Maradona
“Diego Maradona”, making its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, is the latest from director Asif Kapadia. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Asif about that film along with hi…
00:39:29 |
Thu 16 May 2019
107: Rachel Lears on filming Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“Knock Down the House” captures four working class candidates running for Congress in West Virginia, Nevada, Missouri and New York City. That last one is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who overcame enormo…
00:27:26 |
Thu 02 May 2019
106: Werner Herzog on “Meeting Gorbachev”
Werner Herzog talks about the history of Germany, the Soviet Union and dispenses marital advice on this episode. His latest film “Meeting Gorbachev” is based on interviews he conducted with the forme…
00:47:47 |
Thu 25 Apr 2019
105: Sam Green & David Harrington on Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet performs live for the documentary “A Thousand Thoughts” about the group’s history. The film is directed by Sam Green, who narrates the live performances, and Joe Bini.
Pure Nonfiction…
00:49:27 |
Thu 18 Apr 2019
104: Penny Lane on "Hail Satan?"
"Hail Satan?" looks at the Satanic Temple that started six years ago as political provocation and grew into an international movement. Director Penny Lane ("Our Nixon," 'Nuts!") and producer Gabriel …
00:27:21 |
Thu 11 Apr 2019
103: Alison Klayman on Steve Bannon in “The Brink”
Director Alison Klayman (“Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry”) spent a year on the road with Steve Bannon as he met with European right wing leaders to spread his nationalist ideology. That journey is captured …
00:34:23 |
Thu 04 Apr 2019
102: Baseball on Drugs in “Screwball”
“Cocaine Cowboys” director Billy Corben and producer Alfred Spellman talk to Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers about their new comic documentary “Screwball” covering the baseball drug scandal that d…
00:39:11 |
Thu 28 Mar 2019
101: Alex Gibney on how Theranos fooled Silicon Valley
HBO's documentary "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley" looks at the case of Elizabeth Holmes who created the company Theranos promising to revolutionize the field of blood-testing. The com…
00:37:06 |
Thu 21 Mar 2019
100: Inside “The Case Against Adnan Syed” on HBO
Serial, the podcast, won millions of listeners to the story of the 1999 Baltimore murder of Hae Min Lee that sent her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed to prison. Now the case is re-opened by private investiga…
00:29:17 |
Sat 09 Mar 2019
99: D.A. Pennebaker, Seth Meyers, John Mulaney & more on Stephen Sondheim’s “Company"
D.A. Pennebaker’s1970 documentary “Original Cast Album: Company” captures the dramatic recording session of the Stephen Sondheim musical. The film is a cult classic among Broadway fans. Now it's the…
00:38:12 |
Thu 28 Feb 2019
98: Tim Wardle, Sandi Tan & RaMell Ross on "Pushing Boundaries"
"Three Identical Strangers," "Shirkers" and the Oscar-nominated "Hale Country This Morning, This Evening" are the focus of this conversation about pushing stylistic boundaries in documentary. Pure No…
00:57:42 |
Thu 21 Feb 2019
97: "United Skates" with Tina Brown & Reggie Brown
Tribeca Audience Prize winner “United Skates” treats you to a dazzling display of roller skating styles in black communities across America. For several generations, roller rinks provided a place for…
00:26:12 |
Thu 14 Feb 2019
96: Talal Derki on filming in Syria
Syrian director Talal Derki has twice won the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Best Documentary Award for “Return to Homs” and “Of Fathers and Sons.” That first film traced the early years of S…
00:43:22 |
Thu 07 Feb 2019
95: Free Solo, Minding The Gap & Getting Personal
"Free Solo," "Minding the Gap," "On Her Shoulders" and "The Sentence" are four outstanding documentaries from the past year that test the boundaries of filmmakers to keep a critical distance. Pure No…
00:45:45 |
Thu 31 Jan 2019
94: Sundance 2019 Preview
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Steve Bannon, Miles Davis & Toni Morrison are among the prominent documentary subjects at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers got an early look…
00:37:13 |
Tue 22 Jan 2019
93: Astra Taylor on “What is Democracy?”
Cornel West, Wendy Brown and Rev William Barber are among the thinkers and activists captured in the new film “What is Democracy?”. Filmmaker Astra Taylor previously made two other documentaries on p…
00:40:52 |
Thu 17 Jan 2019
92: Aretha Franklin in “Amazing Grace,” Lost and Found
In 1972, Aretha Franklin recorded her biggest selling album “Amazing Grace” as a live gospel performance over two nights at a Los Angeles church, under the direction of Reverend James Cleveland. The …
00:42:56 |
Thu 06 Dec 2018
91: Mr. Rogers, Quincy Jones, Jane Fonda & Pope Francis Walk Into a Bar
The art of portrait documentaries is discussed with five filmmakers: Wim Wenders (“Pope Francis: A Man of His Word”), Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks ("Quincy”), Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbo…
00:57:09 |
Thu 29 Nov 2018
90: Michael Moore, Julie Cohen, Annie Sundberg & Stephen Maing on “Getting Political”
Filmmakers Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 11/9), Julie Cohen (RBG), Annie Sundberg (Reversing Roe) and Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment) sat down with Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers for a panel called …
00:46:01 |
Thu 15 Nov 2018
89: Opal H. Bennett on Short Documentaries
Short documentaries are thriving on platforms like Netflix, HBO and New York Times Op-Docs. This year, the DOC NYC festival picked 12 short docs for its first ever Short List: Shorts. Programmer Opal…
00:34:03 |
Thu 08 Nov 2018
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