Stanley Nelson
Director · Actor · WriterStanley 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).
More details at TMDB
KNOWN FOR
FILMOGRAPHY
DIRECTOR26
We Want the Funk!
2025
Director
Critical Condition: Health in Black America
2025
Director
San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood
2024
Director
Sound of the Police
2023
Director
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022
Director
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
2021
Director
Attica
2021
Director
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
2021
Director
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
2021
Director
Vick
2020
Director
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019
Director
BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
2019
Director
The Story of Access
2018
Director
Black Memorabilia
2018
Script Supervisor
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017
Director
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015
Director
Freedom Summer
2014
Director
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas
2012
Director
Freedom Riders
2010
Director
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
2006
Director
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
2004
Director
A Place of Our Own
2004
Director
The Murder of Emmett Till
2003
Director
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
2001
Director
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999
Director
Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
1987
Director
WRITER9
Attica
2021
Writer
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017
Screenplay
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015
Writer
Freedom Summer
2014
Writer
Jesse Owens
2012
Writer
Freedom Riders
2010
Writer
A Place of Our Own
2004
Writer
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999
Writer
- Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
1981
Writer
PRODUCER33
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
2026
Executive Producer
Free for All: The Public Library
2025
Executive Producer
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
2025
Executive Producer
The Inquisitor
2025
Executive Producer
True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power
2025
Executive Producer
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect
2025
Executive Producer
- Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
2025
Executive Producer
Sister Úna Lived a Good Death
2024
Executive Producer
Disco's Revenge
2024
Executive Producer
Bulls and Saints
2023
Executive Producer
Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
2023
Executive Producer
Sound of the Police
2023
Producer
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology
2023
Executive Producer
Sydney G. James: How We See Us
2023
Executive Producer
Hazing
2022
Executive Producer
After Jackie
2022
Producer
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022
Producer, Executive Producer
Attica
2021
Producer
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
2021
Executive Producer
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019
Producer
BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
2019
Producer
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
2017
Producer
Gavin Grimm vs.
2017
Executive Producer
American Carnage
2017
Executive Producer
Picket Line
2017
Executive Producer
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
2015
Executive Producer
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
2015
Producer
Jesse Owens
2012
Producer
Freedom Riders
2010
Producer
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
2008
Executive Producer
A Place of Our Own
2004
Producer
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999
Producer
Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
1987
Producer, Researcher
