Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
A cheap, powerful drug emerges during a recession, igniting a moral panic fueled by racism. Explore the complex history of crack in the 1980s.
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
The history of black newspapers in America.
Freedom Riders
This is the story of more than four hundred Americans who participated in a bold and dangerous experiment designed to awaken the conscience of a complacent nation. These self-proclaimed, 'Freedom Riders' challenged the mores of a racially segregated society by performing a disarmingly simple act.
Becoming Frederick Douglass
In Becoming Frederick Douglass, acclaimed director Stanley Nelson and co-director Nicole London bring to life the story of an American icon. Using Douglass's own powerful, profound speeches and writing, the story retraces his journey from a man born and raised in slavery to one of the most prominent elder statesmen and inspiring voices for freedom in American history. With additional context and insight provided by historians, scholars and Douglass's descendants, the filmmakers recount the brutality and trauma of his childhood while illuminating his strength of character, defiance against the bonds of slavery and the influences that guided his lifelong quest for freedom. The most celebrated Black man of his era, Douglass's legacy and achievements continue to resonate today. His life and work still inspires activists, educators and citizens in the fight for freedom, equality and a more just American society.
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
This powerful, nuanced portrait arrives just in time celebrate the bicentennial of American abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman. Parts of her story are well known; born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. But the film delves deeper, illuminating her spirit and strength through exploits as a union scout and spy during the Civil War, an activist for women's suffrage and a singular figure who defied categorization at every turn. The foremost chronicler of the Black experience working in nonfiction film today, Stanley Nelson, alongside co-director Nicole London, brings rich, deeply researched historical detail to the story of this remarkable woman.
Attica
Follows the largest prison uprising in US history, conducting dozens of new interviews with inmates, journalists, and other witnesses.
A Place of Our Own
Filmmaker Stanley Nelson's look back at the 40 years he spent summering at Oak Bluffs, a black-oriented resort community on Martha's Vineyard.
Sound of the Police
This documentary examines the fraught relationship between African Americans and the police, often rife with tension, fear, suspicion and hostility on all sides. Framed by some of the most recent conflicts between Black Americans and police officers, which garnered national media attention, the film traces the country’s complex racial history that set the path for policing in Black communities and fuels the ongoing conflict between African American communities and law enforcement.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The story of the Black Panthers is often told in a scatter of repackaged parts, often depicting tragic, mythic accounts of violence and criminal activity; but this is an essential story, vibrant, human; a living and breathing chronicle of a pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).
American Masters Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
A visionary, innovator, and originator who defied categorization and embodied the word cool—a foray into the life and career of musical and cultural icon Miles Davis.
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Stanley Nelson
Director
Bill Clinton
as
Self
Clint Eastwood
as
Self
Jesse Jackson
as
Self
Tom Brokaw
as
Self - Host, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw
Joe Morton
as
Self - Narrator
Wendell Pierce
as
Frederick Douglass
Alfre Woodard
as
Self - Narrator
Malcolm X
as
Self - Civil Rights Leader
Dan Rather
as
Self - Host, CBS Evening News
John Lennon
as
Self
Mike Douglas
as
Self
Huey P. Newton
as
Self - Black Panther Party
Quincy Jones
as
Self
Sammy Davis Jr.
as
Self
Steve Allen
as
Self
Tommie Smith
as
Self
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