Skip to content

IMPDB

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

96 movie-matched episodes

Hear the world's top storytellers talk all things documentary film. Host Thom Powers is as well-connected as it gets in this world as a documentary curator for TIFF and other renowned festivals. He wrote the book "Mondo Documentary" that is “required reading for fans of nonfiction cinema,” says Judd Apatow. Our podcast guests range from documentary legends to emerging talent. Follow us on Instagram and Substack at @purenonfiction.

239: Poh Si Teng on "American Doctor"

American Doctor (2026) · Jun 4, 2026

234: Ryan White & Megan Falley on "Come See Me in the Good Light"

Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) · Jan 5, 2026

232: Apocalypse in the Tropics

Apocalypse in the Tropics (2025) · Dec 4, 2025

228: Contessa Gayles on "Songs From the Hole"

Songs from the Hole (2024) · Aug 28, 2025

227: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady on "Folktales"

Folktales (2025) · Jul 24, 2025

220: Jeremy Workman on "Secret Mall Apartment"

Secret Mall Apartment (2025) · Mar 27, 2025

216: "Queendom" with Agniia Galdanova & Igor Myakotin

Queendom (2021) · Jan 7, 2025

214: Adam Kinzinger & Steve Pink on "The Last Republican"

The Last Republican (2024) · Jan 2, 2025

213: Alex Gibney & Alexis Bloom on "The Bibi Files"

The Bibi Files (2024) · Dec 31, 2024

208: Johan Grimonprez on "Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (2024) · Nov 21, 2024

204: Shiori Ito on "Black Box Diaries"

Black Box Diaries (2024) · Oct 24, 2024

203: Elevating documentary craft in "Nocturnes"

Nocturnes (2024) · Oct 17, 2024

202: On filming "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story"

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024) · Oct 10, 2024

201: Angela Patton & Natalie Rae Robison on "Daughters"

Daughters (2024) · Oct 3, 2024

199: "No Other Land" directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham

No Other Land (2024) · Sep 5, 2024

196: Jeff Zimbalist on "Skywalkers: A Love Story"

Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024) · Jul 18, 2024

195: Rethinking Louis C.K. in "Sorry / Not Sorry"

Sorry/Not Sorry (2024) · Jul 11, 2024

194: "Copa 71" Restores a Lost History

Copa 71 (2024) · Jun 20, 2024

190: Chris Wilcha — from "This American Life" to "Flipside"

Flipside (2024) · Jun 6, 2024

188: Margreth Olin on "Songs of Earth"

Songs of Earth (2023) · May 23, 2024

184: Clair Titley on "The Contestant"

The Contestant (2007) · May 2, 2024

180: Asmae El Moudir on "The Mother of All Lies"

The Mother of All Lies (2024) · Mar 28, 2024

177: Carla Gutierrez on "Frida"

Frida (2024) · Mar 7, 2024

175: S. Leo Chiang on "Island in Between"

Island in Between (2023) · Feb 15, 2024

172: Nicole Newnham on “The Disappearance of Shere Hite”

The Disappearance of Shere Hite (2023) · Nov 30, 2023

171: "Every Body" Profiles Intersex Activists

Every Body (2023) · Nov 22, 2023

170: Raoul Peck on "Silver Dollar Road"

Silver Dollar Road (2023) · Nov 16, 2023

169: Mstyslav Chernov on “20 Days in Mariupol"

20 Days in Mariupol (2023) · Oct 26, 2023

168: Vinay Shukla on "While We Watched"

While We Watched (2023) · Oct 5, 2023

167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"

Casa Susanna (2022) · Aug 24, 2023

166: Maite Alberdi on "The Eternal Memory"

The Eternal Memory (2023) · Aug 17, 2023

165: D. Smith on "Kokomo City"

Kokomo City (2023) · Aug 10, 2023

162: Roger Ross Williams on Donna Summer, "The 1619 Project" and "Cassandro"

Cassandro (2023) · May 30, 2023

161: Elvis Mitchell on "Is That Black Enough for You?!?"

Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022) · May 18, 2023

159: Lisa Cortés on "Little Richard: I Am Everything"

Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023) · May 4, 2023

158: Harry Belafonte on "Sing Your Song"

Sing Your Song (2012) · Apr 27, 2023

157: E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin on "Wild Life"

Wild Life (2023) · Apr 13, 2023

156: Chase Joynt Explores Transgender History in "Framing Agnes"

Framing Agnes (2022) · Apr 6, 2023

155: Daniel Roher on "Navalny"

Navalny (2022) · Mar 3, 2023

154: Oscar-nominated Shaunak Sen on "All That Breathes"

All That Breathes (2022) · Feb 7, 2023

152: Violet Du Feng on "Hidden Letters"

Hidden Letters (2024) · Jan 10, 2023

151: Rebeca Huntt on "Beba"

Beba (2022) · Dec 5, 2022

150: “La Madrina” of the South Bronx

La Madrina (2021) · Apr 14, 2022

147: Stanley Nelson on "Attica" and a Retrospective

Attica (2021) · Jan 29, 2022

146: Alex Pritz on “The Territory” at Sundance

The Territory (2022) · Jan 27, 2022

145: Joe Hunting on “We Met in Virtual Reality” at Sundance

We Met in Virtual Reality (2022) · Jan 25, 2022

144: Ramin Bahrani on “2nd Chance” at Sundance

2nd Chance (2022) · Jan 23, 2022

143: Isabel Castro on “Mija” at Sundance

Mija (2022) · Jan 21, 2022

142: Sara Dosa on “Fire of Love” at Sundance

Fire of Love (2022) · Jan 19, 2022

141: Richard Rowley on “American Insurrection”

American Insurrection (2021) · Jan 6, 2022

140: Ry Russo-Young on her “Nuclear Family”

Nuclear Family (2021) · Dec 9, 2021

138: Nanfu Wang on “In the Same Breath”

In the Same Breath (2021) · Aug 26, 2021

137: Sonia Kennebeck on “Enemies of the State”

Enemies of the State (2021) · Aug 11, 2021

133: Remembering Leon Gast & “When We Were Kings”

When We Were Kings (1996) · Mar 18, 2021

128: Bao Nguyen on Bruce Lee in “Be Water”

Be Water (2020) · Jan 21, 2021

124: Jeff Orlowski on “The Social Dilemma”

The Social Dilemma (2020) · Oct 7, 2020

119: Going Undercover with “The Mole Agent”

The Mole Agent (2020) · Sep 2, 2020

113: Inside "American Factory"

American Factory (2019) · Jan 30, 2020

106: Werner Herzog on “Meeting Gorbachev”

Meeting Gorbachev (2019) · Apr 25, 2019

104: Penny Lane on "Hail Satan?"

Hail Satan? (2019) · Apr 11, 2019

103: Alison Klayman on Steve Bannon in “The Brink”

The Brink (2019) · Apr 4, 2019

102: Baseball on Drugs in “Screwball”

Screwball (2019) · Mar 28, 2019

98: Tim Wardle, Sandi Tan & RaMell Ross on "Pushing Boundaries"

Company (2011) · Feb 21, 2019

97: "United Skates" with Tina Brown & Reggie Brown

United Skates (2018) · Feb 14, 2019

93: Astra Taylor on “What is Democracy?”

What Is Democracy? (2018) · Jan 17, 2019

92: Aretha Franklin in “Amazing Grace,” Lost and Found

Amazing Grace (2018) · Dec 6, 2018

87: Sandi Tan on “Shirkers"

Shirkers (2018) · Oct 25, 2018

84: Matt Tyrnauer on “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018) · Jul 26, 2018

83: Jason Kohn on "Love Means Zero"

Love Means Zero (2017) · Jul 19, 2018

81: Tim Wardle on “Three Identical Strangers”

Three Identical Strangers (2018) · Jul 5, 2018

80: Jonathan Safran Foer & Christopher Quinn on “Eating Animals”

Eating Animals (2018) · Jun 28, 2018

78: Liz Garbus on The New York Times in "The Fourth Estate"

The Fourth Estate (2018) · May 31, 2018

72: Jed Rothstein on “The China Hustle”

The China Hustle (2018) · Apr 5, 2018

PN 67: “Control Room” Revisited with Josh Rushing

Control Room (2004) · Feb 23, 2018

PN 66: Attorney Gloria Allred on “Seeing Allred”

Seeing Allred (2018) · Feb 15, 2018

PN 61: Jennifer Brea on “Unrest”

Unrest (2017) · Dec 21, 2017

PN 59: Yance Ford on "Strong Island"

Strong Island (2017) · Nov 30, 2017

PN 56: Agnès Varda & JR on “Faces Places”

Faces Places (2017) · Oct 19, 2017

PN 55: Frederick Wiseman - From "Titicut Follies" to "Ex Libris”

Titicut Follies (1967) · Sep 6, 2017

PN 52: Playwright Dominique Morisseau on “Detroit '67," “Pipeline," “Shameless" & more

Detroit (2017) · Jul 27, 2017

PN 51: Errol Morris & Elsa Dorfman on “The B-Side”

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography (2017) · Jul 13, 2017

PN 50: D.A. Pennebaker on "Monterey Pop" at 50

Monterey Pop (1968) · Jun 22, 2017

PN 49: Steve James From "Hoop Dreams" to "Abacus"

Hoop Dreams (1994) · May 18, 2017

PN 46: Rashida Jones, Jill Bauer & Ronna Gradus on "Hot Girls Wanted"

Hot Girls Wanted (2015) · Apr 27, 2017

PN 45: Matt Tyrnauer on "Citizen Jane"

Citizen Jane (2009) · Apr 20, 2017

PN 43: Laurent Bouzereau & Mark Harris on “Five Came Back"

Five Came Back (2017) · Apr 6, 2017

PN 42: Made in Miami - Billy Corben & Alfred Spellman on “Cocaine Cowboys”

Cocaine Cowboys (2006) · Mar 30, 2017

PN 41: Danae Elon on “P.S. Jerusalem”

P.S. Jerusalem (2015) · Mar 23, 2017

PN 38: Clay Tweel on “Gleason"

Gleason (2016) · Feb 23, 2017

PN 29: Werner Herzog on “Into the Inferno”

Into the Inferno (2016) · Nov 3, 2016

PN 28: Gianfranco Rosi on “Fire at Sea”

Fire at Sea (2016) · Oct 27, 2016

PN 27: Morgan Spurlock & Jeremy Chilnick on “Rats”

Rats (2003) · Oct 20, 2016

PN 25: Directing "Amanda Knox”

Amanda Knox (2016) · Oct 6, 2016

PN 24: Kirsten Johnson on “Cameraperson”

Cameraperson (2016) · Sep 29, 2016

PN 13: “Life, Animated” director Roger Ross Williams

Life, Animated (2016) · Jun 30, 2016

PN 12: Talking “Tickled" with David Farrier & Dylan Reeve

Tickled (2016) · Jun 23, 2016