
Directing
Stanley Nelson
Directing · Born 1955-07-07 · New York City, New York, USA
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).
Credits · 36
FilmTrue North: Canadian Myths and Black Power
2025 · Executive Producer
FilmSun Ra: Do the Impossible
2025 · Executive Producer
FilmCritical Condition: Health in Black America
2025 · Director
FilmWe Want the Funk!
2025 · Director
FilmSan Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood
2024 · Director

Hollywood Black
2024 · Self
FilmDisco's Revenge
2024 · Executive Producer
FilmSound of the Police
2023 · Director
FilmBirthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
2023 · Executive Producer
FilmBecoming Frederick Douglass
2022 · Director
FilmAfter Jackie
2022 · Producer
FilmHarriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
2021 · Director
FilmLynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021 · Executive Producer
FilmAttica
2021 · Director
FilmTulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
2021 · Director
FilmCrack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
2021 · Director

Black Panthers
2020 · Director
FilmVick
2020 · Director
FilmMiles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019 · Director
FilmBOSS: The Black Experience in Business
2019 · Director
FilmGavin Grimm vs.
2017 · Executive Producer
FilmTell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017 · Director
FilmMary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
2015 · Executive Producer
FilmThe Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015 · Director
FilmFreedom Summer
2014 · Director
FilmJesse Owens
2012 · Producer
FilmFreedom Riders
2010 · Writer

30 for 30
2009 · Director

We Shall Remain
2009 · Director
FilmJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
2006 · Director
FilmA Place of Our Own
2004 · Self - Narrator (voice)
FilmThe Murder of Emmett Till
2003 · Director
FilmMarcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
2001 · Director
FilmThe Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999 · Producer

The Daily Show
1996 · Self

American Experience
1988 · Writer