
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).
2026The Color of ColaMovieDirector · Executive Producer
2026American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis ValdezMovieExecutive Producer
2025Becoming Thurgood: America's Social ArchitectMovieExecutive Producer
2025True North: Canadian Myths and Black PowerMovieExecutive Producer
2025Sun Ra: Do the ImpossibleMovieExecutive Producer
2025The InquisitorMovieExecutive Producer
2025Critical Condition: Health in Black AmericaMovieDirector
2025Free for All: The Public LibraryMovieExecutive Producer
2025We Want the Funk!MovieDirector · Author
2024San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost NeighborhoodMovieDirector
2024Sister Úna Lived a Good DeathMovieExecutive Producer
2024Hollywood BlackTV showas Self · 4 episodes
2024Disco's RevengeMovieExecutive Producer
2023Bulls and SaintsMovieExecutive Producer
2023Sound of the PoliceMovieProducer · Director
2023Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary GaffneyMovieExecutive Producer
2023Jonathan Thunder: Good MythologyMovieExecutive Producer
2023Sydney G. James: How We See UsMovieExecutive Producer
2022Becoming Frederick DouglassMovieDirector · Producer · Executive Producer
2022After JackieMovieProducer
2022HazingMovieExecutive Producer
2021Harriet Tubman: Visions of FreedomMovieDirector
2021Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great DayMovieExecutive Producer
2021AtticaMovieDirector · Writer · Producer
2021Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race MassacreMovieDirector
2021Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & ConspiracyMovieDirector
2020Black PanthersTV showDirector · 2 episodes
2020VickMovieDirector
2019Miles Davis: Birth of the CoolMovieDirector · Producer
2019BOSS: The Black Experience in BusinessMovieProducer · Director
2018The Story of AccessMovieDirector
2018Black MemorabiliaMovieScript Supervisor
2017American CarnageMovieExecutive Producer
2017Gavin Grimm vs.MovieExecutive Producer
2017Picket LineMovieExecutive Producer
2017Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and UniversitiesMovieDirector · Screenplay · Producer
2015Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the BandMovieExecutive Producer
2015The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the RevolutionMovieDirector · Producer · Writer
2014Freedom SummerMovieWriter · Director
2012Focus Forward: Short Films, Big IdeasMovieDirector
2012Jesse OwensMovieWriter · Producer
2010Freedom RidersMovieWriter · Director · Producer
200930 for 30TV showDirector · 2 episodes
2009We Shall RemainTV showDirector · 1 episodes
2008Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New OrleansMovieExecutive Producer
2006Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples TempleMovieDirector
2004A Place of Our OwnMovieas Self - Narrator (voice) · Writer · Director · Producer
2004Beyond Brown: Pursuing the PromiseMovieDirector
2003The Murder of Emmett TillMovieDirector
2001Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the WhirlwindMovieDirector
1999The Black Press: Soldiers Without SwordsMovieProducer · Director · Writer
1996The Daily ShowTV showas Self · 1 episodes
1988American ExperienceTV showWriter · Producer · 1 episodes
1987Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. WalkerMovieDirector · Editor · Producer · Researcher
1985Frederick Douglass: An American LifeMovieSound Recordist
1976Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)MovieSound · Assistant Editor