Director
Stanley Nelson
Born 1955 · New York City, New York, USA
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).
Directed
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Director · 2019
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Director · 2006
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
Director · 2021
30 for 30
Director · 2009
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Director · 2015
Attica
Director · 2021
Freedom Riders
Director · 2010
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
Director · 2017
A Place of Our Own
Director · 2004
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
Director · 2021
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
Director · 2021
We Want the Funk!
Director · 2025
Freedom Summer
Director · 2014
The Murder of Emmett Till
Director · 2003
Black Panthers
Director · 2020
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
Director · 2001
Vick
Director · 2020
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
Director · 1999
Acting
Writing
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Writer · 2015
Attica
Writer · 2021
American Experience
Writer · 1988
Freedom Riders
Writer · 2010
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
Screenplay · 2017
A Place of Our Own
Writer · 2004
Freedom Summer
Writer · 2014
Jesse Owens
Writer · 2012
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
Writer · 1999
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
Writer · 1981