Person
Stanley Nelson
Directing · Born 1955-07-07 · New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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: Soldiers without Swords (1998).
Known for
The Daily Show
Self
American Experience
Writer
30 for 30
Director
Hollywood Black
Self
We Shall Remain
Director
The Inquisitor
Executive Producer
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Director
Becoming Frederick Douglass
Director
True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power
Executive Producer
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
Executive Producer
Filmography
- 2026American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis ValdezExecutive Producer
- 2025Lani B. Supreme: LegacyExecutive Producer
- 2025Becoming Thurgood: America's Social ArchitectExecutive Producer
- 2025True North: Canadian Myths and Black PowerExecutive Producer
- 2025Sun Ra: Do the ImpossibleExecutive Producer
- 2025The InquisitorExecutive Producer
- 2025Free for All: The Public LibraryExecutive Producer
- 2025Critical Condition: Health in Black AmericaDirector
- 2025We Want the Funk!Director
- 2024San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost NeighborhoodDirector
- 2024Sister Úna Lived a Good DeathExecutive Producer
- 2024Hollywood BlackSelf
- 2024Disco's RevengeExecutive Producer
- 2023Bulls and SaintsExecutive Producer
- 2023Sound of the PoliceDirector
- 2023Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary GaffneyExecutive Producer
- 2023Sydney G. James: How We See UsExecutive Producer
- 2023Jonathan Thunder: Good MythologyExecutive Producer
- 2022Becoming Frederick DouglassDirector
- 2022After JackieProducer
- 2022HazingExecutive Producer
- 2021Harriet Tubman: Visions of FreedomDirector
- 2021Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great DayExecutive Producer
- 2021AtticaDirector
- 2021Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race MassacreDirector
- 2021Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & ConspiracyDirector
- 2020Black PanthersDirector
- 2020VickDirector
- 2019Miles Davis: Birth of the CoolDirector
- 2019BOSS: The Black Experience in BusinessDirector
- 2018The Story of AccessDirector
- 2018Black MemorabiliaScript Supervisor
- 2017American CarnageExecutive Producer
- 2017Gavin Grimm vs.Executive Producer
- 2017Picket LineExecutive Producer
- 2017Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and UniversitiesDirector
- 2015Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the BandExecutive Producer
- 2015The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the RevolutionDirector
- 2014Freedom SummerDirector
- 2012Focus Forward: Short Films, Big IdeasDirector
- 2012Jesse OwensProducer
- 2010Freedom RidersWriter
- 200930 for 30Director
- 2009We Shall RemainDirector
- 2008Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New OrleansExecutive Producer
- 2006Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples TempleDirector
- 2004A Place of Our OwnSelf - Narrator (voice)
- 2004Beyond Brown: Pursuing the PromiseDirector
- 2003The Murder of Emmett TillDirector
- 2001Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the WhirlwindDirector
- 1999The Black Press: Soldiers Without SwordsProducer
- 1996The Daily ShowSelf
- 1988American ExperienceWriter
- 1987Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. WalkerDirector
- 1985Frederick Douglass: An American LifeSound Recordist
- 1981Puerto Rico: Our Right to DecideWriter
- 1976Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)Sound
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