Movies: Stanley Nelson

Following a cancer diagnosis, Sister Úna—a mischievous, rule-breaking Catholic nun dedicated to social justice—chooses to live as she’s dying. In this touching end-of-life documentary, the self-proclaimed “leader of the misfits” plans her funeral in ...

The story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea of a public library happen. From the pioneering women behind the "Free Library Movement" to today's librarians who service the public despite working in a contentious age of closures and b...

This is the story of more than four hundred Americans who participated in a bold and dangerous experiment designed to awaken the conscience of a complacent nation. These self-proclaimed, 'Freedom Riders' challenged the mores of a racially segregated ...

After Jackie celebrates the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s integration into Major League Baseball. Robinson opened the door for other African Americans to join the league and this documentary taps into key people and events in the aftermath....

A documentary examining the 1955 murder of a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago while visiting relatives in Mississippi, and the broad impact of his death, his funeral, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his accused killers....

One week before Donald Trump was elected, 700 workers—many of whom were Trump supporters—walked out of the Momentive chemical plant in Waterford, NY, sparking a 105-day strike. In the wake of his win, the striking workers reflect on the election and ...

Birthing A Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney explores the story of forced reproduction in the antebellum South and reveals the agency of Mary Gaffney, an enslaved woman who takes control of her body and fertility....

The history of black newspapers in America....

Through never-before-accessed records and archives, historical footage, expert commentary, and interviews with residents, San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood traces the neighborhood’s rise and fall and explores the vibrant people, arts, and ...

This chilling reflection examines the horrific history of lynchings as cultural events and celebrations that included souvenirs and postcards....

Jesse Owens details Jesse's early career; describes Adolf Hitler s outsized ambitions for the 1936 Olympics; explores the movement in Western democracies to boycott the event; and explains the pressures on Owens to attend. The film also explores why,...

Explores a variety of underground hazing rituals that are abusive and sometimes deadly. The journey to understand hazing culture reveals a world of toxic masculinity, violence, humiliation, binge drinking, denial, and institutional coverups....

This documentary examines the fraught relationship between African Americans and the police, often rife with tension, fear, suspicion and hostility on all sides. Framed by some of the most recent conflicts between Black Americans and police officers,...

The true story of the neighborhood that inspired David Simon's fictional HBO television series "Tremé", from slave revolts and underground free black antebellum resistance through post-Katrina rebuilding, set to a fabulous soundtrack of New Orleans m...

Visual artist/muralist, Sydney G. James, draws inspiration from her hometown of Detroit as she addresses the status of Black women in society, police brutality, family and community through bold brushstrokes and hues that evoke the complexities of Bl...

Marcus Garvey: Look for me in the Whirlwind uses a wealth of archival film, photographs and documents to uncover the story of this Jamaican immigrant, who between 1916 and 1921 built the largest black mass movement in world history. It explores Garve...

Documentary about the first self-made American millionairess, Madam C.J. Walker....

Executive produced by NBA superstar and philanthropist Russell Westbrook, and directed by Peabody and Emmy-Award® winning director Stanley Nelson (“Freedom Riders”) and Peabody and duPont-Award winner Marco Williams (“Two Towns of Jasper”), the docum...

An intimate portrait of two inner-city barbershops that provide patrons with more than haircuts....

This powerful, nuanced portrait arrives just in time celebrate the bicentennial of American abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman. Parts of her story are well known; born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 mission...