Sam Pollard

Slavery by Another Name

Sam Pollard

Лоуренс Фишборн

A documentary that recounts the many ways in which American slavery persisted as a practice many decades after its supposed abolition.

Mr. SOUL!

Sam Pollard, Melissa Haizlip

Ellis Haizlip, Sidney Poitier

On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, one fearless black pioneer reconceived a Harlem Renaissance for a new era, ushering giants and rising stars of black American culture onto the national television stage. He was hip. He was smart. He was innovative, political, and gay. In his personal fight for social equality, this man ensured the Revolution would be televised. The man was Ellis Haizlip. The Revolution was soul!

August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand

Sam Pollard

August Wilson, Виола Дэвис

Unprecedented access to Wilson’s theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews and new dramatic readings bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling a century of African-American life. Wilson won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.

Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me

Sam Pollard

Sammy Davis Jr., Whoopi Goldberg

A star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man.

Going Back to T-Town

Sam Pollard

Ossie Davis

Goin’ Back to T-Town tells the story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation. Torn apart in 1921 by one of the worst racially-motivated massacres in the nation’s history, the neighborhood rose from the ashes, and by 1936 boasted the largest concentration of Black-owned businesses in the U.S., known as “Black Wall Street.” Ironically, it could not survive the progressive policies of integration and urban renewal of the 1960s. Told through the memories of those who lived through the events, the film is a bittersweet celebration of small-town life and the resilience of a community’s spirit.

Two Trains Runnin'

Sam Pollard

Коммон, Gary Clark Jr.

The search of several young, white men for blues singers who have been missing for decades coincides with the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi in the 1960s.

Black Art: In the Absence of Light

Sam Pollard

Kerry James Marshall, Kehinde Wiley

An introduction to the work of some of the foremost Black visual artists working today, inspired by the late David Driskell's landmark 1976 exhibition, "Two Centuries of Black American Art."

Citizen Ashe

Rex Miller, Sam Pollard

Billie Jean King, Jeanne Moutousammy-Ashe

Follows the life and career of Arthur Ashe.

John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend

Sam Pollard

John Ford and John Wayne — a friendship and professional collaboration that spanned 50 years, changed each others’ lives, changed the movies, and in the process, changed the way America saw itself. It was a relationship that reflected all the elements and all the paradoxes of 20th century America — generosity of spirit, abuse of power, a sense of loyalty, and a restless nationalism that didn’t quite know what to do with itself.

MLK/FBI

Sam Pollard

Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover

Based on newly declassified files, the film explores the US government’s surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Acorn and the Firestorm

Reuben Atlas, Sam Pollard

Barack Obama, Andrew Breitbart

For 40 years, the community-organizing group ACORN advocated for America’s poorest communities, while its detractors accused it of promoting the worst of liberal policies. Riding high on the momentum of Barack Obama’s presidential victory in 2008, ACORN was at its political zenith when a hidden-camera video sparked a national scandal and brought it crashing down. The story involves voter fraud, a fake prostitute, and the rise of Breitbart.com.

Maynard

Sam Pollard

Bill Clinton, Al Sharpton

Director Sam Pollard constructs a portrait of charismatic trailblazer Maynard Jackson, who became Atlanta’s first black mayor in 1973. The son of pastors raised in the segregated South, Jackson entered college at 14 and took office at 35. During his three-term tenure, he led the city through the traumatic Atlanta child murders scare and triumphantly hosted the 1996 Olympics, all while championing racial equality. Family and colleagues, including Bill Clinton, Andrew Young and Al Sharpton, tell the epic story of a dynamic leader and his legacy of honor and progress.

Chinatown Film Project

Wayne Wang, Cary Joji Fukunaga

Brian Yang

Chinatown is an evocative place. It exists in our cities, in our imaginations, on our television screens, and in our memories. It is at once a sprawling, vibrant immigrant community and a forgotten strip mall of buffet restaurants.

The Making of Bamboozled

Spike Lee, Sam Pollard

Spike Lee, Budd Schulberg

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Spike Lee's satirical take on the American entertainment industry.

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On

Sam Pollard

Marvin Gaye, Jesse L. Martin

When Marvin Gaye died in 1984, he left behind one of the great legacies in American music. More than a superb vocalist and subtle composer, he was a visionary who expressed the tenor of his times. Both radical and romantic, a self-taught singer with a flair for autobiographical revelation, he thrived on confession and loved candor.

The Talk: Race in America

Sam Pollard

Documentary about the increasingly necessary conversation taking place in homes and communities across the country between parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police.