Stanley Nelson
Directing
Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences. He is a recipient of the 2013 National Humanities Medal from President Obama. He has won three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Among his notable films are Freedom Riders (2010), Wounded Knee (2009), Jonestown: The Life & Death of People's Temple (2006), Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice (2005), A Place of Our Own (2004), The Murder of Emmett Till (2003), and The Black Press:…
Filmography
55
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
2026
Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
2025
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect
2025
True North
2025
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
2025
The Inquisitor
2025
Free for All: The Public Library
2025
Critical Condition: Health in Black America
2025
We Want the Funk!
2025
San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood
2024
Sister Úna Lived a Good Death
2024
Disco's Revenge
2024
Bulls and Saints
2023
Sound of the Police
2023
Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
2023
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology
2023
Sydney G. James: How We See Us
2023
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022
After Jackie
2022
Hazing
2022
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
2021
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021
Attica
2021
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
2021
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
2021
Black Panthers
2020
Vick
2020
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019
BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
2019
The Story of Access
2018
Black Memorabilia
2018
American Carnage
2017
Gavin Grimm vs.
2017
Picket Line
2017
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
2015
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015
Freedom Summer
2014
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas
2012
Jesse Owens
2012
Freedom Riders
2010
30 for 30
2009
We Shall Remain
2009
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
2008
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
2006
A Place of Our Own
2004
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
2004
The Murder of Emmett Till
2003
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
2001
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999
American Experience
1988
Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
1987
Frederick Douglass: An American Life
1985
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
1981
Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)
1976
