Stanley Nelson
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 Voic…
Known For
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Director
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Director
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
Director
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Director
30 for 30
Director
Attica
Director
American Experience
Producer
Freedom Riders
Director
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Filmography
Acting (2)
Television (1)
Crew (63)
Movies (58)
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
2026Executive Producer
The Inquisitor
2025Executive Producer
Critical Condition: Health in Black America
2025Director
We Want the Funk!
2025Director
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
2025Executive Producer
True North
2025Executive Producer
Free for All: The Public Library
2025Executive Producer
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect
2025Executive Producer
Disco’s Revenge
2024Executive Producer
Sister Úna Lived a Good Death
2024Executive Producer
San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood
2024Director
Sydney G. James: How We See Us
2023Executive Producer
Sound of the Police
2023Producer
Bulls and Saints
2023Executive Producer
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology
2023Executive Producer
Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
2023Executive Producer
Hazing
2022Executive Producer
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022Director
After Jackie
2022Producer
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
2021Director
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
2021Director
Attica
2021Director
Attica
2021Producer
Attica
2021Writer
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
2021Director
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021Executive Producer
Vick
2020Director
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019Director
BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
2019Producer
The Story of Access
2018Director
Black Memorabilia
2018Script Supervisor
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017Director
Gavin Grimm vs.
2017Executive Producer
Picket Line
2017Executive Producer
American Carnage
2017Executive Producer
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015Director
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015Producer
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015Writer
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
2015Executive Producer
Freedom Summer
2014Director
Freedom Summer
2014Writer
Jesse Owens
2012Producer
Jesse Owens
2012Writer
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas
2012Director
Freedom Riders
2010Director
Freedom Riders
2010Producer
Freedom Riders
2010Writer
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
2008Executive Producer
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
2006Director
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
2004Director
A Place of Our Own
2004Writer
The Murder of Emmett Till
2003Director
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
2001Director
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999Producer
Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
1987Director
Frederick Douglass: An American Life
1985Sound Recordist
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
1981Writer
Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)
1976Sound
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