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.

First time filmmaker D. Smith had a successful career as a Grammy-nominated music producer. But when she came out as transgender, she was effectively blacklisted from that industry. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Smith in her hometown at the Miami Film Festival about the desperation and inspiration behind this film.

On Instagram: @truedsmith @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Asif Kapadia has won renown for his biographical portraits in "Senna", "Diego Maradona" and the Oscar-winning "Amy". In this wide-ranging conversation, he speaks about the setbacks and breakthroughs in his career. The topics include his clash with Harvey Weinstein over his fiction feature "The Warrior" and being plunged into an Oscar campaign with "Amy".

Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Asif in March at CPH: DOX in Copenhagen. Asif was there to present "Creature", a dance film that's a collaboration with the choreographer Akram Khan, starring Jeffrey Cirio. The Guardian described "Creature" as "something genuinely strange which can’t be pinned down to a single explanation."

Asif previously appeared on episode 108 where he went deeper into the making of his documentaries.

On Instagram: @asifkapadia1 @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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. He makes stops in New York, Miami, Washington, Chicago, Puerto Rico and Los Angeles interviewing prominent locals on their history, cuisine and culture. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to Leguizamo about what he learned along the way.

On Instagram: @johnleguizamo @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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 Love You, Donna Summer on HBO, The 1619 Project on Hulu and his fiction feature debut Cassandro coming this fall from Amazon Studios. Williams also discusses his stint serving on the AMPAS Board of Governors when he led a campaign to increase enrollment of women and BIPOC members. For more on Williams' career, hear his interview from 2016 on episode 13.

Instagram: @onestoryup @rogerrosswilliams @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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 in their hometown of Detroit during the Freep Film Festival.

The conversation delves into Elvis’s Detroit roots - with local references ranging from the Fox Theater to the Electrifying Mojo. He shares insights from his new film and explains why he left his job as a New York Times film critic.

As mentioned in the podcast, here’s a link to his 2002 Pinocchio review.

On Instagram: @theelvismitchell  @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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 Steinberg and one of its directors Pax Wasserman. The interview was recorded before a live audience at New York's IFC Center.

This week, Pure Nonfiction debuted the email newsletter Producer's Notebook that covers latest developments in documentary producing. You can subscribe for free at PureNonfiction.net.

Instagram: @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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 helps to rewrite the history of rock and roll.

Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Lisa about her background in the Black church, the music business and her move into making documentaries.

On Instagram: @misscortes @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

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 interviewed Belafonte and his daughter Gina in 2013 as part of the Montclair Film Festival. The conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey.

"Sing Your Song", directed by Susanne Rostock, is available on video on demand.

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 Kris Tompkins who earned a fortune leading the clothing brands North Face and Patagonia, then left their corporate lives to devote themselves to conservation.

Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviewed Chai and Jimmy in Copenhagen at the CPH:DOX festival where "Wild Life" had its international premiere. The film, produced by National Geographic, is being released in theaters in April and comes to Disney+ on May 26. In this conversation, the filmmaking couple also discuss their first collaboration "Meru" about a harrowing expedition that Jimmy undertook with Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk.

On Instagram: @chaivasarhelyi @jimmychin @thompowers1 @purenonfiction

Chase Joynt has explored transgender topics in several films including "No Ordinary Man" about jazz musician Billy Tipton and his latest "Framing Agnes", now available on VOD. 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 reflects on what it means to be releasing this film against a backdrop of backlash, violence and anti-trans legislation.

"Framing Agnes" premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the Next section. "Framing Agnes" draws upon a rare archive of interviews with trans and gender non-conforming people conducted in the 1950s. The interviews were undertaken by sociologist Harold Garfinkel who is portrayed by Chase in the film's reenactments. The director enlists other trans actors to perform the transcripts of subjects who were interviewed by Garfinkel. The cast includes Zackary Drucker as Agnes, Jen Richards as Barbara and Angelica Ross as Georgia.

Chase gives credit to other collaborators on the project including sociologist Kristen Schilt and historian Jules Gill-Peterson. 

On Instagram: @chasejoynt @thompowers1 @purenonfiction