Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film


Latest Episodes

82: Kevin MacDonald on Whitney Houston
July 12, 2018

Whitney Houston had an angelic voice, but fought demons in her personal life. The new documentary “Whitney” explores her talents and tribulations. Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald previously directed the documentaries “Marley,” “Touching the Void,

81: Tim Wardle on “Three Identical Strangers”
July 05, 2018

Separated at birth, the triplets Bobby, Eddy and David discovered each other by accident at age 19 in 1980. They became media sensations. Madonna cast them in a movie and they opened a Manhattan restaurant called triplets.

80: Jonathan Safran Foer & Christopher Quinn on “Eating Animals”
June 28, 2018

Relax, “Eating Animals” isn’t proselytizing for vegetarianism. But author Jonathan Safran Foer and filmmaker Christopher Quinn are asking you to think more seriously about factory farming. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Foer and Quinn touc...

79: Judd Apatow on Garry Shandling
June 14, 2018

Comedian Garry Shandling is remembered for creating two ground-breaking TV shows: “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” He was also a key mentor to Hollywood writer and director Judd Apatow (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”; “Knocked Up”)...

78: Liz Garbus on The New York Times in “The Fourth Estate”
May 31, 2018

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus (“What Happened Miss Simone?”) follows The New York Times team of reporters and editors covering the first year of the Trump administration in the four-part Showtime series The Fourth Estate.

77: Wim Wenders on Pope Francis
May 24, 2018

Buena Vista Social Club, Pina Bausch and Sebastiao Selgado are among Wim Wenders past documentary subjects. Now he profiles the head of the Catholic Church in “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” released in theaters by Focus Features.

76: Filming Ruth Bader Ginsburg
May 10, 2018

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is profiled in the new documentary “RBG.” Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the directing duo of Betsy West and Julie Cohen on Ginsburg’s career fighting for women’s rights.

75: Dawn Porter on “Bobby Kennedy for President”
May 03, 2018

“Bobby Kennedy for President” is a four-part Netflix series that traces the politician’s career with an emphasis on issues of racial justice. The final episode reexamines his 1968 assassination and the trial of Sirhan Sirhan that left unanswered questi...

74: Joe Berlinger from “Brother’s Keeper” to “Intent to Destroy”
April 26, 2018

Joe Berlinger has been making documentaries for over 25 years. He started out at Maysles Films where he met Bruce Sinofsky. In 1992, they made “Brother’s Keeper”, a story of a murder trial in upstate New York,

73: Sophie Fiennes on Grace Jones
April 19, 2018

Grace Jones has been commanding attention for decades as a singer, actress and icon. Now filmmaker Sophie Fiennes crafts a documentary as unconventional as its subject in “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.” The film immerses us into Grace’s life on the...