Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film
By Pure Nonfiction
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Category: TV & Film
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Episodes: 243
Description
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 wrote the book "Mondo Documentary" that is “required reading for fans of nonfiction cinema,” says Judd Apatow. Our podcast guests range from documentary legends to emerging talent. Follow us on Instagram and Substack at @purenonfiction.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
235: Oscar Shortlist Spotlight
|
Jan 08, 2026 |
|
234: Ryan White & Megan Falley on "Come See Me in the Good Light"
|
Jan 05, 2026 |
|
233: Alexandria Stapleton on "Sean Combs: The Reckoning"
|
Dec 20, 2025 |
|
232: Apocalypse in the Tropics
|
Dec 04, 2025 |
|
231: Docs from Five Countries
|
Nov 25, 2025 |
|
230: Storks, Orphans, Rebels & Predators
|
Oct 24, 2025 |
|
229: Poetry, Murder, Prison & UFOs
|
Oct 23, 2025 |
|
228: Contessa Gayles on "Songs From the Hole"
|
Aug 28, 2025 |
|
227: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady on "Folktales"
|
Jul 24, 2025 |
|
226: Martha Stewart, Alice Waters, John Williams
|
Jun 13, 2025 |
|
225: Will & Harper, Social Studies, Chimp Crazy
|
Jun 12, 2025 |
|
224: Emmy contenders
|
May 30, 2025 |
|
223: Questlove, Reginald Hudlin, David Tedeschi
|
May 29, 2025 |
|
222: Sam Soko on telling African stories
|
May 08, 2025 |
|
221: Sinead O'Shea on Edna O'Brien
|
Apr 17, 2025 |
|
220: Jeremy Workman on "Secret Mall Apartment"
|
Mar 27, 2025 |
|
219: Frederick Wiseman at 95
|
Feb 14, 2025 |
|
218: Shortlisters, part 2
|
Jan 09, 2025 |
|
217: Shortlisters, part 1
|
Jan 08, 2025 |
|
216: "Queendom" with Agniia Galdanova & Igor Myakotin
|
Jan 07, 2025 |
|
215: Ibrahim Nash'at on "Hollywoodgate"
|
Jan 06, 2025 |
|
214: Adam Kinzinger & Steve Pink on "The Last Republican"
|
Jan 02, 2025 |
|
213: Alex Gibney & Alexis Bloom on "The Bibi Files"
|
Dec 31, 2024 |
|
212: William Kentridge on "Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot"
|
Dec 10, 2024 |
|
211: Live from London
|
Dec 05, 2024 |
|
210: Brian Eno & Ibelin
|
Dec 04, 2024 |
|
209: Raoul Peck on Ernest Cole, George Orwell & Haiti
|
Nov 27, 2024 |
|
208: Johan Grimonprez on "Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"
|
Nov 21, 2024 |
|
207: Frida, Celine and Daughters
|
Nov 14, 2024 |
|
206: Docs with Laughs
|
Nov 08, 2024 |
|
205: Live from Los Angeles
|
Oct 31, 2024 |
|
204: Shiori Ito on "Black Box Diaries"
|
Oct 24, 2024 |
|
203: Elevating documentary craft in "Nocturnes"
|
Oct 17, 2024 |
|
202: On filming "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story"
|
Oct 10, 2024 |
|
201: Angela Patton & Natalie Rae Robison on "Daughters"
|
Oct 03, 2024 |
|
200: Beadie Finzi & Judy Kibinge on DISCO & the Independence Project
|
Sep 26, 2024 |
|
199: "No Other Land" directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham
|
Sep 05, 2024 |
|
198: Lucy Walker on "Mountain Queen”
|
Aug 07, 2024 |
|
197: Sonya Childress & Sahar Driver on Color Congress
|
Aug 01, 2024 |
|
196: Jeff Zimbalist on "Skywalkers: A Love Story"
|
Jul 18, 2024 |
|
195: Rethinking Louis C.K. in "Sorry / Not Sorry"
|
Jul 11, 2024 |
|
194: "Copa 71" Restores a Lost History
|
Jun 20, 2024 |
|
193: ESPN 30 for 30
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
192: Emmy Contenders, Part 2
|
Jun 13, 2024 |
|
191: Emmy Contenders, Part 1
|
Jun 12, 2024 |
|
190: Chris Wilcha — from "This American Life" to "Flipside"
|
Jun 06, 2024 |
|
189: India's Trail-Blazing Director Anand Patwardhan
|
May 30, 2024 |
|
188: Margreth Olin on "Songs of Earth"
|
May 23, 2024 |
|
187: Rob Reiner on Albert Brooks and Spinal Tap
|
May 16, 2024 |
|
186: Yousef Srouji on Palestinian Home Movies
|
May 09, 2024 |
|
185: Paul Cronin on Columbia 1968
|
May 07, 2024 |
|
184: Clair Titley on "The Contestant"
|
May 02, 2024 |
|
183: Just Vision’s Julia Bacha and Suhad Babaa on 20 Years of Covering Israel-Palestine
|
Apr 18, 2024 |
|
182: Sreemoyee Singh — from India to Iran
|
Apr 11, 2024 |
|
181: Mila Turajlić on Non-Aligned
|
Apr 04, 2024 |
|
180: Asmae El Moudir on "The Mother of All Lies"
|
Mar 28, 2024 |
|
179: Alex Gibney on Paul Simon
|
Mar 21, 2024 |
|
178: Anand Giridharadas on "The Persuaders"
|
Mar 14, 2024 |
|
177: Carla Gutierrez on "Frida"
|
Mar 07, 2024 |
|
176: Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times
|
Feb 29, 2024 |
|
175: S. Leo Chiang on "Island in Between"
|
Feb 15, 2024 |
|
174: Oscar contenders, part 2
|
Jan 12, 2024 |
|
173: Oscar contenders, part 1
|
Jan 11, 2024 |
|
172: Nicole Newnham on “The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
|
Nov 30, 2023 |
|
171: "Every Body" Profiles Intersex Activists
|
Nov 22, 2023 |
|
170: Raoul Peck on "Silver Dollar Road"
|
Nov 16, 2023 |
|
169: Mstyslav Chernov on “20 Days in Mariupol"
|
Oct 26, 2023 |
|
168: Vinay Shukla on "While We Watched"
|
Oct 05, 2023 |
|
167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"
|
Aug 24, 2023 |
|
166: Maite Alberdi on "The Eternal Memory"
|
Aug 17, 2023 |
|
165: D. Smith on "Kokomo City"
|
Aug 10, 2023 |
|
164: Asif Kapadia on Highs and Lows
|
Jun 22, 2023 |
|
163: John Leguizamo Does America
|
Jun 08, 2023 |
|
162: Roger Ross Williams on Donna Summer, "The 1619 Project" and "Cassandro"
|
May 30, 2023 |
|
161: Elvis Mitchell on "Is That Black Enough for You?!?"
|
May 18, 2023 |
|
160: Inside "Couples Therapy"
|
May 11, 2023 |
|
159: Lisa Cortés on "Little Richard: I Am Everything"
|
May 04, 2023 |
|
158: Harry Belafonte on "Sing Your Song"
|
Apr 27, 2023 |
|
157: E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin on "Wild Life"
|
Apr 13, 2023 |
|
156: Chase Joynt Explores Transgender History in "Framing Agnes"
|
Apr 06, 2023 |
|
155: Daniel Roher on "Navalny"
|
Mar 03, 2023 |
|
154: Oscar-nominated Shaunak Sen on "All That Breathes"
|
Feb 07, 2023 |
|
153: Joyce Chopra on "Lady Director"
|
Jan 31, 2023 |
|
152: Violet Du Feng on "Hidden Letters"
|
Jan 10, 2023 |
|
151: Rebeca Huntt on "Beba"
|
Dec 05, 2022 |
|
150: “La Madrina” of the South Bronx
|
Apr 14, 2022 |
|
149: W. Kamau Bell on "We Need to Talk About Cosby"
|
Feb 24, 2022 |
|
148: Abigail Disney & Kathleen Hughes on Disney’s Dark Side
|
Feb 17, 2022 |
|
147: Stanley Nelson on "Attica" and a Retrospective
|
Jan 29, 2022 |
|
146: Alex Pritz on “The Territory” at Sundance
|
Jan 27, 2022 |
|
145: Joe Hunting on “We Met in Virtual Reality” at Sundance
|
Jan 25, 2022 |
|
144: Ramin Bahrani on “2nd Chance” at Sundance
|
Jan 23, 2022 |
|
143: Isabel Castro on “Mija” at Sundance
|
Jan 21, 2022 |
|
142: Sara Dosa on “Fire of Love” at Sundance
|
Jan 19, 2022 |
|
141: Richard Rowley on “American Insurrection”
|
Jan 06, 2022 |
|
140: Ry Russo-Young on her “Nuclear Family”
|
Dec 09, 2021 |
|
139: Sonya Childress & Jesse Wente on Making Change
|
Sep 02, 2021 |
|
138: Nanfu Wang on “In the Same Breath”
|
Aug 26, 2021 |
|
137: Sonia Kennebeck on “Enemies of the State”
|
Aug 11, 2021 |
|
136: Fran Lebowitz on “Pretend It’s a City”
|
Jun 16, 2021 |
|
135: In Praise of Lewis Erskine @editorsavant
|
Jun 09, 2021 |
|
134: Astra Taylor on “You Are Not a Loan"
|
May 20, 2021 |
|
133: Remembering Leon Gast & “When We Were Kings”
|
Mar 18, 2021 |
|
132: Telling the Story of Fred Hampton
|
Mar 04, 2021 |
|
131: Alex Vitale on Rethinking True Crime
|
Feb 26, 2021 |
|
130: Jean Tsien Goes Outside Her Comfort Zone
|
Feb 18, 2021 |
|
129: Breaking Rules with Victor Kossakovsky, Kirsten Johnson & Garrett Bradley
|
Feb 11, 2021 |
|
128: Bao Nguyen on Bruce Lee in “Be Water”
|
Jan 21, 2021 |
|
127: Remembering Robert Fisk
|
Dec 29, 2020 |
|
126: Loira Limbal on “Through the Night”
|
Dec 21, 2020 |
|
125: Garrett Bradley on “Time”
|
Oct 14, 2020 |
|
124: Jeff Orlowski on “The Social Dilemma”
|
Oct 07, 2020 |
|
123: Yoruba Richen on Breonna Taylor & Harry Belafonte
|
Sep 30, 2020 |
|
122: Free hajooj kuka
|
Sep 21, 2020 |
|
121: Mark Cousins’ Cinematic Road Trips
|
Sep 16, 2020 |
|
120: Cameron Bailey on #TIFF20 and Planet Africa
|
Sep 07, 2020 |
|
119: Going Undercover with “The Mole Agent”
|
Sep 02, 2020 |
|
118: Meet Ja’Tovia Gary
|
Aug 26, 2020 |
|
117: The Making of McMillion$
|
Aug 20, 2020 |
|
116: Iyabo Boyd of Brown Girls Doc Mafia
|
Aug 14, 2020 |
|
115: Uncovering China's "One Child Nation"
|
Feb 14, 2020 |
|
114: "For Sama" Inside Syria
|
Feb 07, 2020 |
|
113: Inside "American Factory"
|
Jan 30, 2020 |
|
112: Sundance 2020 Preview
|
Jan 19, 2020 |
|
111: Profiling Toni Morrison
|
Aug 26, 2019 |
|
110: Joshua Wong on Hong Kong
|
Jul 21, 2019 |
|
109: Running with Beto
|
May 30, 2019 |
|
108: Asif Kapadia on Ayrton Senna, Amy Winehouse & Diego Maradona
|
May 16, 2019 |
|
107: Rachel Lears on filming Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
|
May 02, 2019 |
|
106: Werner Herzog on “Meeting Gorbachev”
|
Apr 25, 2019 |
|
105: Sam Green & David Harrington on Kronos Quartet
|
Apr 18, 2019 |
|
104: Penny Lane on "Hail Satan?"
|
Apr 11, 2019 |
|
103: Alison Klayman on Steve Bannon in “The Brink”
|
Apr 04, 2019 |
|
102: Baseball on Drugs in “Screwball”
|
Mar 28, 2019 |
|
101: Alex Gibney on how Theranos fooled Silicon Valley
|
Mar 21, 2019 |
|
100: Inside “The Case Against Adnan Syed” on HBO
|
Mar 09, 2019 |
|
99: D.A. Pennebaker, Seth Meyers, John Mulaney & more on Stephen Sondheim’s “Company"
|
Feb 28, 2019 |
|
98: Tim Wardle, Sandi Tan & RaMell Ross on "Pushing Boundaries"
|
Feb 21, 2019 |
|
97: "United Skates" with Tina Brown & Reggie Brown
|
Feb 14, 2019 |
|
96: Talal Derki on filming in Syria
|
Feb 07, 2019 |
|
95: Free Solo, Minding The Gap & Getting Personal
|
Jan 31, 2019 |
|
94: Sundance 2019 Preview
|
Jan 22, 2019 |
|
93: Astra Taylor on “What is Democracy?”
|
Jan 17, 2019 |
|
92: Aretha Franklin in “Amazing Grace,” Lost and Found
|
Dec 06, 2018 |
|
91: Mr. Rogers, Quincy Jones, Jane Fonda & Pope Francis Walk Into a Bar
|
Nov 29, 2018 |
|
90: Michael Moore, Julie Cohen, Annie Sundberg & Stephen Maing on “Getting Political”
|
Nov 15, 2018 |
|
89: Opal H. Bennett on Short Documentaries
|
Nov 08, 2018 |
|
88: DOC NYC Preview 2018
|
Nov 01, 2018 |
|
87: Sandi Tan on “Shirkers"
|
Oct 25, 2018 |
|
86: Alex Gibney & Trevor Birney, Wanted in Belfast
|
Oct 18, 2018 |
|
85: Maxim Pozdorovkin on Trump, Putin & Pussy Riot
|
Aug 02, 2018 |
|
84: Matt Tyrnauer on “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”
|
Jul 26, 2018 |
|
83: Jason Kohn on "Love Means Zero"
|
Jul 19, 2018 |
|
82: Kevin MacDonald on Whitney Houston
|
Jul 12, 2018 |
|
81: Tim Wardle on “Three Identical Strangers”
|
Jul 05, 2018 |
|
80: Jonathan Safran Foer & Christopher Quinn on “Eating Animals”
|
Jun 28, 2018 |
|
79: Judd Apatow on Garry Shandling
|
Jun 14, 2018 |
|
78: Liz Garbus on The New York Times in "The Fourth Estate"
|
May 31, 2018 |
|
77: Wim Wenders on Pope Francis
|
May 24, 2018 |
|
76: Filming Ruth Bader Ginsburg
|
May 10, 2018 |
|
75: Dawn Porter on “Bobby Kennedy for President”
|
May 03, 2018 |
|
74: Joe Berlinger from "Brother's Keeper" to "Intent to Destroy"
|
Apr 26, 2018 |
|
73: Sophie Fiennes on Grace Jones
|
Apr 19, 2018 |
|
72: Jed Rothstein on “The China Hustle”
|
Apr 05, 2018 |
|
71: Amanda Micheli on “Vegas Baby” & IVF Treatment
|
Mar 22, 2018 |
|
70: Mark Duplass, Chapman & Maclain Way on “Wild Wild Country”
|
Mar 15, 2018 |
|
PN 69: Remembering Chris Hondros
|
Mar 08, 2018 |
|
PN 68: Policing in “Flint Town”
|
Mar 02, 2018 |
|
PN 67: “Control Room” Revisited with Josh Rushing
|
Feb 23, 2018 |
|
PN 66: Attorney Gloria Allred on “Seeing Allred”
|
Feb 15, 2018 |
|
PN 65: Sam Pollard on Sammy Davis Jr, Spike Lee & St. Clair Bourne
|
Feb 08, 2018 |
|
PN 64: First Person Documentary with Yance Ford, Bryan Fogel & Jeff Orlowski
|
Feb 01, 2018 |
|
PN 63: Tabitha Jackson + 2018 Sundance Preview
|
Jan 16, 2018 |
|
Pure Nonfiction at IFC Center Winter Season
|
Jan 15, 2018 |
|
PN 62: Errol Morris, Brett Morgen & Ceyda Torun on Documentary Style
|
Jan 11, 2018 |
|
PN 61: Jennifer Brea on “Unrest”
|
Dec 21, 2017 |
|
PN 60: Alex Gibney & Blair Foster on "Rolling Stone”
|
Dec 15, 2017 |
|
90th Academy Awards
|
Dec 08, 2017 |
|
PN 59: Yance Ford on "Strong Island"
|
Nov 30, 2017 |
|
PN 58: Brett Morgen on Jane Goodall
|
Nov 06, 2017 |
|
PN 57: DOC NYC Preview
|
Oct 26, 2017 |
|
PN 56: Agnès Varda & JR on “Faces Places”
|
Oct 19, 2017 |
|
PN 55: Frederick Wiseman - From "Titicut Follies" to "Ex Libris”
|
Sep 06, 2017 |
|
PN 54: TIFF 2017 Documentary Preview Part 2 of 2
|
Sep 01, 2017 |
|
PN 53: TIFF 2017 Documentary Preview Part 1 of 2
|
Aug 30, 2017 |
|
Documentary All-Stars! in Detroit - October 7
|
Aug 28, 2017 |
|
PN 52: Playwright Dominique Morisseau on “Detroit '67," “Pipeline," “Shameless" & more
|
Jul 27, 2017 |
|
PN 51: Errol Morris & Elsa Dorfman on “The B-Side”
|
Jul 13, 2017 |
|
PN 50: D.A. Pennebaker on "Monterey Pop" at 50
|
Jun 22, 2017 |
|
PN 49: Steve James From "Hoop Dreams" to "Abacus"
|
May 18, 2017 |
|
PN 48: HBO’s Sheila Nevins on Seductions, Heartbreaks & Her New Book
|
May 11, 2017 |
|
PN 47: Jonathan Demme & Renée Shafransky on Spalding Gray
|
May 04, 2017 |
|
PN 46: Rashida Jones, Jill Bauer & Ronna Gradus on "Hot Girls Wanted"
|
Apr 27, 2017 |
|
PN 45: Matt Tyrnauer on "Citizen Jane"
|
Apr 20, 2017 |
|
PN 44: From Indiana Jones to Guatemala’s Civil War - Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffern
|
Apr 13, 2017 |
|
PN 43: Laurent Bouzereau & Mark Harris on “Five Came Back"
|
Apr 06, 2017 |
|
PN 42: Made in Miami - Billy Corben & Alfred Spellman on “Cocaine Cowboys”
|
Mar 30, 2017 |
|
PN 41: Danae Elon on “P.S. Jerusalem”
|
Mar 23, 2017 |
|
PN 40: “True South” - Jon Else on Henry Hampton & "Eyes on the Prize"
|
Mar 16, 2017 |
|
PN 39: Marina Zenovich on Roman Polanski & California’s water crisis
|
Mar 02, 2017 |
|
PN 38: Clay Tweel on “Gleason"
|
Feb 23, 2017 |
|
PN 37: Oscar Nominees for Documentary Feature
|
Feb 16, 2017 |
|
PN 36: John Heilemann on “Trumped"
|
Feb 09, 2017 |
|
PN 35: Syrian Filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia In Exile
|
Feb 02, 2017 |
|
PN 34: Island President Mohamed Nasheed in Exile
|
Jan 26, 2017 |
|
Montclair Film Festival Panels
|
Jan 20, 2017 |
|
DOC NYC: November 11 – 19, 2020
|
Jan 19, 2017 |
|
PN 33: Inside Sundance with Josh Braun
|
Jan 18, 2017 |
|
PN 32: Laura Poitras & Henrik Moltke on Project X
|
Jan 12, 2017 |
|
PN 31: Race, History, Trump & Documentary
|
Dec 02, 2016 |
|
PN 30: Madam President: Sheila Nevins on HBO Documentary Films
|
Nov 09, 2016 |
|
PN 29: Werner Herzog on “Into the Inferno”
|
Nov 03, 2016 |
|
PN 28: Gianfranco Rosi on “Fire at Sea”
|
Oct 27, 2016 |
|
PN 27: Morgan Spurlock & Jeremy Chilnick on “Rats”
|
Oct 20, 2016 |
|
PN 26: Ava DuVernay on 13th
|
Oct 13, 2016 |
|
PN 25: Directing "Amanda Knox”
|
Oct 06, 2016 |
|
PN 24: Kirsten Johnson on “Cameraperson”
|
Sep 29, 2016 |
|
PN 23: Demme on Talking Heads, Neil Young & Justin Timberlake
|
Sep 23, 2016 |
|
PN 22: Nanette Burstein Investigates John McAfee
|
Sep 22, 2016 |
|
PN 21: Raoul Peck on James Baldwin
|
Sep 15, 2016 |
|
PN 20: Women Directors at #TIFF16
|
Sep 09, 2016 |
|
PN 19: New Docs on True Crime
|
Sep 08, 2016 |
|
PN 18: Jazz Legends on Screen
|
Sep 01, 2016 |
|
Season Two Preview
|
Aug 25, 2016 |
|
PN 17: Barbara Kopple - From Harlan County to Sharon Jones
|
Jul 28, 2016 |
|
PN 16: Alex Gibney on Revealing Secrets
|
Jul 21, 2016 |
|
PN 15: Muhammad Ali on Film
|
Jul 14, 2016 |
|
PN 14: TV’s King of Comedy
|
Jul 07, 2016 |
|
PN 13: “Life, Animated” director Roger Ross Williams
|
Jun 30, 2016 |
|
PN 12: Talking “Tickled" with David Farrier & Dylan Reeve
|
Jun 23, 2016 |
|
PN 11: Yo-Yo Ma & Morgan Neville on "The Music of Strangers"
|
Jun 16, 2016 |
|
PN 10: Why Revisit O.J. Simpson?
|
Jun 09, 2016 |
|
PN 09: Pennebaker & Hegedus on Clinton, Bowie & Animal Rights
|
Jun 02, 2016 |
|
PN 08: Who is Princess Shaw?
|
May 26, 2016 |
|
PN 07: Weiner Beyond the Headlines
|
May 19, 2016 |
|
PN 06: Jonathan Demme’s Real Life Characters
|
May 12, 2016 |
|
PN 05: Who is Anderson Cooper’s Mother?
|
May 05, 2016 |
|
PN 04: Going Deep With Mapplethorpe
|
Apr 28, 2016 |
|
PN 03: "Making a Murderer” - Behind the Scenes
|
Apr 21, 2016 |
|
PN 02: Inside the Supreme Court Case on Abortion
|
Apr 20, 2016 |
|
PN 01: From Maysles To The New Yorker Presents…
|
Apr 19, 2016 |
|
PN 00 - Introducing Pure Nonfiction!
|
Apr 13, 2016 |
|
Toronto International Film Festival: September 7 – 17
|
Jan 11, 2016 |