Sam Pollard
Born: 1945-04-20 in Harlem, New York, USA
Known For: Directing
Biography
Samuel D. Pollard (born 20 April, 1945; Harlem) is an American documentary director, producer and editor. His films have garnered numerous awards such as Peabodys, Emmys, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave him a career achievement award. Spike Lee, whose films Pollard has edited and produced, described him as being "a master filmmaker." Henry Louis Gates Jr. characterizes his work in this way: "When I think about his documentaries, they add up to a corpus — a way of telling African-American history in its various dimensions."
Filmography
2026
- Natchez ... (Executive Producer)
- Tutu ... (Director)
- Full Circle: The First All Black Everest Ascent ... (Executive Producer)
2025
- The Perfect Neighbor ... (Executive Producer)
- This Is Not a Drill ... (Consulting Producer)
- Katrina: Come Hell and High Water ... (Executive Producer)
- Teaching America ... (Executive Producer)
- I Was Born This Way ... (Director)
2024
- Photographer ... (Director)
- Ol' Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys ... (Director)
- Black Table ... (Executive Producer)
- Keeper ... (Executive Producer)
2023
- Bill Russell: Legend ... (Director)
- Carlos ... (Producer)
- The League ... (Director)
- South to Black Power ... (Director)
- Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes ... (Producer)
- Subject as Self
- LIFT ... (Executive Producer)
- The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools ... (Director)
2022
- Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power ... (Director)
- Hostages ... (Director)
- The Picture Taker ... (Editorial Consultant)
- Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities ... (Director)
- Outta the Muck ... (Executive Producer)
2021
- Tiger ... (Executive Producer)
- Civil War (Or, Who Do We Think We Are) ... (Executive Producer)
- Citizen Ashe ... (Director)
- Black Art: In the Absence of Light ... (Director)
- A Crime on the Bayou ... (Consulting Producer)
- Hold Your Fire ... (Consulting Producer)
2020
- Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children ... (Director)
- D. Wade: Life Unexpected ... (Producer)
- MLK/FBI ... (Director)
- Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance ... (Consulting Producer)
2019
- Why We Hate ... (Director)
2017
- Maynard ... (Director)
- Acorn and the Firestorm ... (Producer)
- Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me ... (Director)
- The Talk: Race in America ... (Director)
2016
- Two Trains Runnin' ... (Director)
2015
- August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand ... (Director)
2014
- Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women ... (Executive Producer)
- Style Wars In The Cutting Room as Himself / Editor of Style Wars
2013
- Remote Area Medical ... (Editor)
2012
- Slavery by Another Name ... (Director)
- Venus and Serena ... (Editor)
- Joe Papp in Five Acts ... (Editor)
2010
- If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise ... (Editor)
- Gerrymandering ... (Editor)
- Mr. Soul: Ellis Haizlip and the Birth of Black Power TV ... (Director)
2009
- By the People: The Election of Barack Obama ... (Editor)
- Chinatown Film Project ... (Director)
- Love That Movie ... (Director)
2008
- Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun ... (Director)
- Marvin Gaye: What's Going On ... (Director)
2007
- Pete Seeger: The Power of Song ... (Editor)
- Lillie & Leander: A Legacy of Violence ... (Editorial Consultant)
2006
- Inside Man ... (Additional Editing)
- John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend ... (Director)
2004
2003
- The Blues ... (Producer)
2002
- The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow ... (Director)
- Jim Brown: All-American ... (Co-Producer)
2001
- The Making of 'Bamboozled' ... (Director)
- The Chinatown Files ... (Consulting Editor)
2000
- Bamboozled ... (Editor)
- Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks ... (Editor)
1999
- Independent Lens ... (Director)
- I'll Make Me a World ... (Director)
1997
- 4 Little Girls ... (Editor)
1996
- Girl 6 ... (Editor)
1995
- Clockers ... (Editor)
1994
- Surviving the Game ... (Editor)
1993
- Goin' Back to T-Town ... (Director)
1992
- Juice ... (Editor)
1991
- Jungle Fever ... (Editor)
1990
- Mo' Better Blues ... (Editor)
1988
- American Experience ... (Director)
- A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly ... (Editor)
1987
- Eyes on the Prize ... (Director)
- Langston Hughes: The Dream Keeper ... (Editor)
1986
- American Masters ... (Director)
1985
- Private Resort ... (Editor)
1984
- Style Wars ... (Editor)
1983
- Metropolitan Cats ... (Editor)
1981
- Body and Soul ... (Editor)
- Night of the Zombies ... (Editor)
- Forever Young ... (Editor)
- The Little Players ... (Editor)
1973
- Ganja & Hess ... (Assistant Editor)