Sam Pollard

In the golden age of documentaries, who benefits? SUBJECT reveals the unintended consequences – good, bad, and complicated – of having your life shared on screen. Featuring the protagonists of acclaimed documentaries The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wolfpack, Capturing the Friedmans, and The Square, as well as the filmmakers of Minding the Gap, Cameraperson, An Inconvenient Truth, and more.

In the summer of ’83 a camera crew visited Valkhn Films, an editing house where Style Wars was being painstakingly spliced together. This 25 min piece is a rare glimpse at the process of telling a real story as it’s happening.

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!

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.

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.

Through never-before-seen archival footage and first-hand accounts of those who knew him best, the film traces Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s rise as the voice of the oppressed, guided by faith, hope and an understanding of the power of forgiveness.

Surviving childhood abuse during his upbringing in Baltimore, Archbishop Carl Bean forged a path to New York and Hollywood to do the one thing he knew he was put on earth to do: sing. Making his mark first as a gospel singer, Bean got the break of his life when Motown tapped him in 1977 to record the disco song “I Was Born This Way,” which quickly became the first gay anthem at a time when it was uncommon to be out and proud. When the AIDS crisis hit, however, Bean soon found himself drawn to a different calling: compassionate activism. Instead of pursuing the momentum of his promising music career, he founded the Minority AIDS Project and the Unity Fellowship Church — the first LGBTQ+ church for people of color.

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.

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.

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.

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

The triumphs and challenges of Negro League baseball in the early 20th century. Through rare footage and interviews with iconic players like Satchel Paige and Buck O'Neil, as well as Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, the film highlights the league's pivotal role in Black communities and the impact of integration.

Renowned documentarian Sam Pollard tells the astonishing, inspiring story of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, site of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and its remarkable owners, Walter and Loree Bailey.

This lively and intimately-crafted documentary immerses the audience in rock icon Carlos Santana's life and musical trajectory. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez bolsters this personal narrative with pulsating, never-before-seen footage — guided by Santana himself, in his own words.

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.

For a decade, Dwayne Wade intimately documented his life and career with a film crew. The result is a remarkably candid portrait of one of the greatest NBA players of all-time.

Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama.

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

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

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

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

The untold story of the man and the musician who made an immense cultural impact across just a few short years. Having gained exclusive rights to a never-before-seen personal archive shot by his wife alongside access to his closest friends and family, the doc is described by the filmmakers as a culture-defining special that humanizes ODB as a man, a father and a husband like never before. It explores how Russell Tyrone Jones created Ol' Dirty Bastard, a Hip Hop alter ego superhero that would ultimately consume him.

The untold story of the man and the musician who made an immense cultural impact across just a few short years. Having gained exclusive rights to a never-before-seen personal archive shot by his wife alongside access to his closest friends and family, the doc is described by the filmmakers as a culture-defining special that humanizes ODB as a man, a father and a husband like never before. It explores how Russell Tyrone Jones created Ol' Dirty Bastard, a Hip Hop alter ego superhero that would ultimately consume him.

Follows the life and career of Arthur Ashe.

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.

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."