Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film


Latest Episodes

169: Mstyslav Chernov on “20 Days in Mariupol"
October 26, 2023

Associated Press videographer Mstyslav Chernov won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Russia's war against Ukraine. When the war escalated in February 2022, Mstyslav covered the front lines for hi

168: Vinay Shukla on "While We Watched"
October 05, 2023

"While We Watched" profiles the Indian TV journalist Ravish Kumar during a period when he's under extreme pressure including death threats for trying to do his job.

167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"
August 24, 2023

"Casa Susanna," playing on PBS Passport, tells the secret history of a Catskills resort in the late 1950s and early 1960s that was a safe haven for transgender expression.

166: Maite Alberdi on "The Eternal Memory"
August 17, 2023

Maite Alberdi's new work is "The Eternal Memory." She follows the journalist Augusto Gongora and his wife Paulina Urrutia as they cope with Augustos experience with Alzheimers syndrome.

165: D. Smith on "Kokomo City"
August 10, 2023

First time filmmaker D. Smith had a successful career as a Grammy-nominated music producer. But when she came out as transgender, she was effectively blacklisted from that industry.

164: Asif Kapadia on Highs and Lows
June 22, 2023

In this wide-ranging conversation, Asif Kapadia speaks about the setbacks and breakthroughs in his career.

163: John Leguizamo Does America
June 08, 2023

Actor and writer John Leguizamo now hosts the series "Leguizamo Does America" that explores Latin American communities across the country.

162: Roger Ross Williams on Donna Summer, "The 1619 Project" and "Cassandro"
May 30, 2023

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams has a bounty of new releases this year.

161: Elvis Mitchell on "Is That Black Enough for You?!?"
May 18, 2023

Elvis Mitchell on his ocumentary "Is That Black Enough for You?!?", Detroit and why he left his job as a New York Times film critic.

160: Inside "Couples Therapy"
May 11, 2023

Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews "Couples Therapy" star Dr. Orna Guralnik along with co-creators Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg and one of its directors Pax Wasserman.