Stanley Nelson

Known for: Directing
Born: July 7, 1955, New York City, New York, USA
Movies: 30

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).

Best-Known Movies

7.0

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple

2006

7.1

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

2019

6.8

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy

2021

7.0

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

2015

6.8

Attica

2021

6.3

We Want the Funk!

2025

7.5

Freedom Riders

2010

8.1

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities

2017

7.2

Freedom Summer

2014

7.0

The Murder of Emmett Till

2003

Filmography

2004

A Place of Our Own

Self - Narrator (voice)

Directing, Writing & Producing

2026	The Color of Cola	Director
2025	Critical Condition: Health in Black America	Director
2025	We Want the Funk!	Director
2024	San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood	Director
2023	Sound of the Police	Director, Producer
2022	Becoming Frederick Douglass	Director, Producer
2022	After Jackie	Producer
2021	Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom	Director
2021	Attica	Director, Writer, Producer
2021	Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre	Director
2021	Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy	Director
2020	Vick	Director
2019	Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool	Director, Producer
2019	BOSS: The Black Experience in Business	Director, Producer
2018	The Story of Access	Director
2017	Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities	Director, Producer, Screenplay
2015	The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution	Director, Writer, Producer
2014	Freedom Summer	Director, Writer
2012	Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas	Director
2012	Jesse Owens	Producer, Writer
2010	Freedom Riders	Writer, Director, Producer
2006	Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple	Director
2004	A Place of Our Own	Writer, Director, Producer
2004	Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise	Director
2003	The Murder of Emmett Till	Director
2001	Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind	Director
1999	The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords	Producer, Director, Writer
1987	Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker	Director, Producer
1981	Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide	Writer

Data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.