The Attica prison uprising in 1971 resulted in the deaths of 43 prisoners and guards by NY state troopers. 2021 was the 50th anniversary of this deadly repression, and its legacy remains in the work of activists working for change to the incarceration system and beyond. Stanley Nelson examines the uprising, with rare interviews with survivors from both sides of the prison walls.

Watch the film now, freely on Showtime and then hear from the director, Stanley Nelson., in conversation with filmmaker Felicia Bradford Harden.

Stanley Nelson, is an Emmy winning director of numerous documentaries on the African American experience. Attica, his latest documentary film, with Traci A. Curry, examines this 1971 prison uprising, premiered as the opening night documentary at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, is shortlisted for the 94th annual Academy Awards, and is now streaming on Showtime.

Stanley Nelson is a leading documentarian of the African-American experience. His films combine compelling narratives with rich historical detail to illuminate the under-explored American past. A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Nelson has received nearly every award in broadcasting, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, and lifetime achievement awards from the Emmys, the Peabody Awards, and the International Documentary Association. In 2016, Nelson was honored with the National Medal in the Humanities from President Barack Obama. His films include:Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, with Marco Williams, for the History Channel; Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy, for Netflix; Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, Nelson’s 10th Sundance Film Festival premiere and first Grammy nomination for Best Music Film in 2020; The Black Panthers:Vanguard of the Revolution (2016 2016 NAACP Image Award); Freedom Riders (2010), Freedom Summer (2014, Peabody Award), The Murder of Emmett Till, The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999),Two Dollars and a Dream (1989), Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple (2006, TribecaFilm Festival Special Jury Prize), Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2000, Sundance Premiere) - among others. Nelson and his wife, Marcia A. Smith, co-founded Firelight Media, a non-profit organization that supports and develops nonfiction filmmakers of color, and the production company Firelight Films, which produces nonfiction films by and about communities of color.

This is a presentation of the Documentary Forum at CCNY and Third World Newsreel.

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