Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film


Latest Episodes

128: Bao Nguyen on Bruce Lee in “Be Water”
January 21, 2021

Filmmaker Bao Nguyen profiles Bruce Lee, searching for the man behind the icon, in the ESPN documentary “Be Water.”

127: Remembering Robert Fisk
December 29, 2020

Journalist Robert Fisk died in October at age 74. He spent decades reporting in the Middle East as a newspaper columnist and the author of books including “Pity the Nation” and “The Great War for Civilization.”

126: Loira Limbal on “Through the Night”
December 22, 2020

“Through the Night” profiles a 24-hour child care run by Deloris “Nunu” Hogan and her husband Patrick from their home in New Rochelle, NY. The film won a Special Jury Prize at the DOC NYC festival and was a NY Times Critic’s Pick.

126: Loira Limbal on “Through the Night”
December 21, 2020

“Through the Night” profiles a 24-hour child care run by Deloris “Nunu” Hogan and her husband Patrick from their home in New Rochelle, NY. The film won a Special Jury Prize at the DOC NYC festival and was a NY Times Critic’s Pick. It had an Oscar-qualifyi

125: Garrett Bradley on “Time”
October 15, 2020

Garrett Bradley is having a moment. In January, she won the Sundance Documentary Directing Prize for her film “Time” that comes to Amazon this month; and she has a multi-channel video installation coming to MoMA in November.

125: Garrett Bradley on “Time”
October 14, 2020

Garrett Bradley is having a moment. In January, she won the Sundance Documentary Directing Prize for her film “Time” that comes to Amazon this month; and she has a multi-channel video installation coming to MoMA in November.

124: Jeff Orlowski on “The Social Dilemma”
October 08, 2020

“The Social Dilemma” interviews former insiders at Google, Facebook and Twitter who confess they’re now afraid of the technology they helped to create. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the film’s director Jeff Orlowski,

124: Jeff Orlowski on “The Social Dilemma”
October 07, 2020

“The Social Dilemma” interviews former insiders at Google, Facebook and Twitter who confess they’re now afraid of the technology they helped to create.

123: Yoruba Richen on Breonna Taylor & Harry Belafonte
October 01, 2020

The New York Times Presents episode on “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” made its debut in September, the same week as The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show. Yoruba Richen directed both documentaries and discusses them with Pure Nonfiction h...

123: Yoruba Richen on Breonna Taylor & Harry Belafonte
September 30, 2020

The New York Times Presents episode on “The Killing of Breonna Taylor” made its debut in September, the same week as The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show.