Stanley Nelson
Directing · Director · Executive Producer · Producer
Born Jul 7, 1955 · New York City, New York, USA
Active 1976–present · Awards: MacArthur Fellows Program, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, National Humanities Medal, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
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.
Filmography
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019) - Director · ProducerJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006) - DirectorCrack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (2021) - Director30 for 30 (2009) - DirectorThe Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015) - Director · Writer · ProducerAttica (2021) - Director · Writer · ProducerAmerican Experience (1988) - Writer · ProducerFreedom Riders (2010) - Writer · Director · ProducerTell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (2017) - Director · Screenplay · ProducerMarcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2001) - DirectorA Place of Our Own (2004) - Director · Writer · ProducerAfter Jackie (2022) - ProducerLynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day (2021) - Executive ProducerWe Want the Funk! (2025) - DirectorFreedom Summer (2014) - Director · WriterMary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band (2015) - Executive ProducerThe Murder of Emmett Till (2003) - DirectorDisco's Revenge (2024) - Executive ProducerJesse Owens (2012) - Writer · ProducerTulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre (2021) - DirectorThe Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999) - Producer · Director · WriterBirthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney (2023) - Executive ProducerSun Ra: Do the Impossible (2025) - Executive ProducerTrue North: Canadian Myths and Black Power (2025) - Executive Producer