Stanley Nelson
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- July 7, 1955
- Birthplace
- 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).
Filmography
The Color of Cola 2026
Director, Executive Producer
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez 2026
Executive Producer
- Cindy Tran: From Here to Here
Cindy Tran: From Here to Here 2025
Executive Producer
- Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
Lani B. Supreme: Legacy 2025
Executive Producer
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect 2025
Executive Producer
True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power 2025
Executive Producer
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible 2025
Executive Producer
The Inquisitor 2025
Executive Producer
Critical Condition: Health in Black America 2025
Director
Free for All: The Public Library 2025
Executive Producer
We Want the Funk! 2025
Director, Author
San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood 2024
Director
Sister Úna Lived a Good Death 2024
Executive Producer
Disco's Revenge 2024
Executive Producer
Bulls and Saints 2023
Executive Producer
Sound of the Police 2023
Director, Producer
Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney 2023
Executive Producer
Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology 2023
Executive Producer
Sydney G. James: How We See Us 2023
Executive Producer
Becoming Frederick Douglass 2022
Director, Executive Producer, Producer
After Jackie 2022
Producer
Hazing 2022
Executive Producer
Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom 2021
Director
Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day 2021
Executive Producer
Attica 2021
Director, Writer, Producer
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre 2021
Director
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy 2021
Director
Vick 2020
Director
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool 2019
Director, Producer
BOSS: The Black Experience in Business 2019
Director, Producer
The Story of Access 2018
Director
Black Memorabilia 2018
Script Supervisor
American Carnage 2017
Executive Producer
Gavin Grimm vs. 2017
Executive Producer
Picket Line 2017
Executive Producer
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities 2017
Director, Producer, Screenplay
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band 2015
Executive Producer
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution 2015
Director, Writer, Producer
Freedom Summer 2014
Director, Writer
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas 2012
Director
Jesse Owens 2012
Producer, Writer
Freedom Riders 2010
Writer, Director, Producer
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans 2008
Executive Producer
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple 2006
Director
A Place of Our Own 2004
as Self - Narrator (voice), Writer, Director, Producer
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise 2004
Director
The Murder of Emmett Till 2003
Director
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind 2001
Director
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords 1999
Producer, Director, Writer
Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker 1987
Director, Editor, Researcher, Producer
Frederick Douglass: An American Life 1985
Sound Recordist
- Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide 1981
Writer
Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops) 1976
Sound, Assistant Editor
Credits from TMDB.