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 .
19-544: 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). Nelson was born in New York City on June 7, 1951, to Stanley Nelson Sr. and A'lelia (Ransom) Nelson, and
38-779: A MacArthur Fellowship in 2002. Nelson also received fellowships at the American Film Institute , the New York Foundation for the Arts , and Columbia University . He was on the selection panel for three years for the Fulbright Fellowship in film. For the 2003 The American Experience (PBS) episode The Murder Of Emmett Till , Nelson won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming , Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, and
57-481: A nonprofit that provides technical education and professional support to emerging documentarians. The organization received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2015. He is co-founder of Firelight Films, the for-profit documentary production company. Freedom Riders (TV documentary) Freedom Riders is a 2010 American historical documentary film, produced by Firelight Media for
76-410: A range of issues from immigration to the environment, from bullying and youth depression to policing and the juvenile justice system. Through Professional Development Programs, EVC offers teacher training courses, in-class coaching, and curricula. "The radical participatory agenda suggested by [Steve] Goodman and the work of groups such as Global Village, DCTV , Videofreex , and others dovetailed with
95-588: A recipient of the NEH National Humanities Medal presented by President Obama in 2014. In 2015 the American Film Institute made him its Guggenheim Symposium Honoree. He was awarded a 2015 Individual Peabody Award , presented at the 2016 award ceremony. In 2016 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Nelson is Executive Director and co-founder of Firelight Media with his wife, writer and producer Marcia Smith,
114-598: A special program celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders . Nelson won two Emmy awards for the film in 2011: Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming , and Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking as one of the producers. Nelson's 2014 documentary Freedom Summer profiled the 1964 civil rights movement activism in Mississippi. It aired on PBS American Experience and won Best Documentary at
133-881: The George Foster Peabody Award . Nelson's 2004 film A Place of Our Own was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, he also won the Educational Video Center 's Excellence in Community Service Award. In 2007, he received an Emmy nomination for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking as a producer of Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple that aired on PBS series The American Experience . On May 4, 2011, Nelson and his film Freedom Riders were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in
152-676: The Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was the first film in the 2010s to be put in the registry. Educational Video Center The Educational Video Center , founded in 1984 by Steven Goodman in New York City , is a " non-profit youth media organization dedicated to teaching documentary video as a means to develop artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change." EVC students have created award-winning documentaries on
171-619: The twenty-third season of American Experience on PBS . The film is based in part on the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by historian Raymond Arsenault . Directed by Stanley Nelson , it marked the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride in May 1961 and first aired on May 16, 2011. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities . The film
190-571: The Leonard Davis Film School at the City College of New York with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976. After graduation, Nelson earned an apprenticeship with the documentary filmmaker William Greaves . Nelson wrote and produced his 1987 documentary about the first self-made American millionairess, Two Dollars and a Dream: The Story of Madam C.J. Walker , which aired as part of Black History Month presentations on PBS in 1988. The film
209-589: The Pan-African film festival. Nelson directed the 2015 documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution , the first of what is to be a three-part series of documentaries about African-American history titled America Revisited. He won an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking as one of the producers of this film in 2016. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and
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#1733094306734228-645: The Whirlwind (2000) about civil right activist Marcus Garvey was first place overall winner at the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 2001 and won best documentary at the 2002 Black International Cinema Awards. Nelson has made several productions for the Smithsonian Institution , including a tribute to African-American artists, entitled Free Within Ourselves, and Climbing Jacob's Ladder. He received
247-497: The media literacy movement and notions of a critical pedagogy informed by the ideas of Paulo Freire as articulated in his foundational book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed ." The 1986 EVC student documentary, 2371 Second Avenue: An East Harlem Story is " one of EVC’s earliest videos and best examples of how the center’s emphasis on young expressivity, social justice, and handheld camera becomes actualized," and also exemplifies video as
266-482: The ongoing practice of racial segregation in the southern United States to national attention. Freedom Riders has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun wrote, "One of the great social epics of our time." In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by
285-461: The second of four children. Nelson's mother A'lelia Nelson was the last president of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company , a famous early black enterprise established in 1906 that produced hair care products and cosmetics for black women. A'lelia was also a librarian at City College of New York and was acquisitions supervisor for the Library of Congress . Nelson's father Dr. Stanley Earl Nelson Sr.
304-695: The seventh film designated in its first year of eligibility, the first in the 2010s, and the most recently released film to be selected until 2011's Pariah was inducted in 2022. The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of civil rights activists called Freedom Riders that challenged racial segregation in American interstate transportation during the Civil Rights Movement . The activists traveled together in small interracial groups and sat wherever they chose on buses and trains to compel equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms. They brought
323-599: Was a dentist who was a pioneer in reconstructive dentistry and taught at New York University . Dr. Nelson was also an active supporter of the civil rights movement . Nelson's sister Jill Nelson is a prominent African-American journalist and author. Nelson attended New Lincoln School , a private Manhattan school, from kindergarten through high school. He attended Beloit College in Wisconsin and later transferred to six different colleges including New York University, Morris Brown College , and Hunter College . He graduated from
342-566: Was also featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show program titled, Freedom Riders: 50th Anniversary . Nelson was helped in the making of the documentary by Arsenault and Derek Catsam, an associate professor at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", making it
361-681: Was named Best Production of the Decade by the Black Filmmakers Foundation , and won the CINE Golden Eagle Award . Nelson soon found a job at PBS, working as a television producer with Bill Moyers for the TV series Listening to America. His next film releases included the Emmy Award -nominated documentary The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999), and Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in
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