Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

By Pure NonfictionTV & Film Society & Culture Documentary

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film episodes

October 23 247: Live from Los Angeles, part 2
Pure Nonfiction and The Ankler collaborate for a live recording of Documentary Spotlight at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. Host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind "Seized" (director Sharon Liese, producer Sasha Alpert), "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (director Pegah Ahangarani), "The Eyes of Ghana" (producers Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Ethan Lewis), and "Bernstein's Wall" (director Douglas Tirola).
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
56 min
October 22 246: Live from Los Angeles, part 1
Pure Nonfiction and The Ankler collaborate for a live recording of Documentary Spotlight at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. Host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind "American Doctor" (director Poh Si Teng, participant Dr. Thaer Ahmad), "Time and Water" (director Sara Dosa), "A Fox Under a Pink Moon" (directors Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi); and "Just Look Up" (directors Betsy Hershey, Emma Wall, participant Michael Greenberg).
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
57 min
October 08 245: Alex Gibney on "Musk"
Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney delivers the most ambitious documentary of his career in "Musk." How did one person amass so much power in Tesla, Space X, Starlink, Twitter, Grok, DOGE and more? Host Thom Powers interviewed Gibney about the challenges of investigating the world's richest man. The film is being released to U.S. theaters by Bleecker Street.
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
44 min
August 13 244: Sinead O’Shea on "All About the Money"
Fergie Chambers, the American multi-millionaire supporter of far left causes, is currently imprisoned in Spain as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks his extradition. He’s profiled in the documentary “All About the Money” that premiered at Sundance. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed director Sinead O’Shea in March at CPH:DOX.
Sinead talked about her previous film "Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story" on episode 221.
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
45 min
July 01 243: Sasha Waters on Mary Oliver
"Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World" profiles the Pulitzer-winning poet who died in 2019. The filmmaker Sasha Waters describes how she shaped this biography drawing upon the memories of Oliver's friends including filmmaker John Waters, poet Mark Doty, and journalist Maria Shriver; along with contributions from Oliver's admirers such as Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey. The film is being released theatrically by Kino Lorber and will be broadcast on PBS' American Masters on August 25.
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
36 min
June 18 242: Zayd Ayers Dohrn on the Weather Underground
Zayd Ayers Dohrn is the son of Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers who were leaders in the Weather Underground, known for bombing the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and other high profile targets. Zayd explores their complicated legacy in the podcast Mother Country Radicals and his new memoir Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young.
Host Thom Powers interviews Zayd about what he learned. They discuss past documentary treatments in "Underground" (1976) by Emile d'Antonio and "The Weather Underground" (2002) by Sam Green and Bill Siegel. For more on this era, hear our past interviews with Bill Siegel (ep 15), on Fred Hampton (ep 132), and on Columbia 1968 (ep 185).
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
44 min
June 12 241: Live from New York, part 2
Recorded live in New York, host Thom Powers interviews the directors of three new projects: Alexandria Stapleton (Sean Combs: The Reckoning), Zach Heinzerling (Rafa) and Trish Dalton (Reggae Girlz). The conversations took place as part of Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler, in partnership with Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Red Bull Studios.
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
55 min
June 11 240: Live from New York, part 1
Recorded live in New York, host Thom Powers explores four new documentary projects interviewing director Rebecca Miller (Mr Scorsese), director Ally Pankiw (Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery), producer/editor Shane Reid (John Candy: I Like Me), and producer Sara Bernstein (Marty: Life is Short). The conversations took place as part of Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler, in partnership with Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Red Bull Studios.
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
1 hr 7 min
June 04 239: Poh Si Teng on "American Doctor"
"American Doctor" looks at the war in Gaza through the eyes of three volunteer surgeons from different backgrounds - Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian. The film debuted at Sundance and will be released this summer from Watermelon Pictures. Host Thom Powers interviewed director Poh Si Teng in front of a live audience at CPH:DOX. She started out as a producer of acclaimed works such as "St. Louis Superman" and "Patrice: The Movie" before making her directorial debut with "American Doctor."
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
40 min
May 21 238: Colin Hanks & Ryan Reynolds on John Candy
"John Candy: I Like Me" (Amazon) looks at the highs and lows of the beloved comedian who was ever-present in the 1980s and early 90s before his death at age 43. Host Thom Powers interviews director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds. They may be better known for their acting roles, but both have a deep commitment to documentary. Hanks previously directed docs on Tower Records and the Eagles of Death Metal. Reynolds is an executive producer and featured in the hit documentary series "Welcome to Wrexham."
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On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1
41 min

About Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

From the publisher's feed

Hear the world's top storytellers talk all things documentary film. Host Thom Powers is as well-connected as it gets in this world as a documentary curator for TIFF and other renowned festivals. He…