Sam Pollard (filmmaker)

Samuel D. Pollard
Pollard at the 2011 Peabody Awards
Born
Harlem, New York, U.S.
Alma materBaruch College (BA)
OccupationFilmmaker
AwardsPeabody Award (2020)

Samuel D. Pollard is an American film director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. His films have garnered 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 "a master filmmaker." Henry Louis Gates Jr. said of his work: "When I think about his documentaries, they add up to a corpus — a way of telling African-American history in its various dimensions."[1]

Career

Born in Harlem, New York,[2] Samuel D. Pollard began his career in 1972 as an editor for Victor Kanefsky, after having taken courses in a workshop organized by WNET.[3] He obtained a BA degree from Baruch College in 1973.[4] Early in his career, he assisted film editor George Bowers.[3][5] St. Clair Bourne and was also a mentor of his.[6]

Awards and recognition

In 1998, Pollard received an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature nomination for 4 Little Girls alongside Spike Lee.[7] In 2010, Pollard (with Geeta Gandbhir and Arielle Amsalem) received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program for the film By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.[8] In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave Pollard its first Career Achievement Award.[9]

MLK/FBI was named best documentary at the 2020 San Diego International Film Festival.[10]

In 2021, Film at Lincoln Center put together "Tribute to Sam Pollard", featuring several of his documentaries and calling him one of "cinema’s most dedicated chroniclers of the Black experience in America."[11][12]

Filmography

As director

As editor

References

  1. ↑ Rapold, Nicolas (January 14, 2021). "The Filmmaker as Historian: Sam Pollard and 'MLK/FBI'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ Heba, Dani (2023-03-13). "Sam Pollard: From the projects to the big screen". The Ticker. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  3. 1 2 Lewis, Tracie (March 30, 2009). "The Avid Excellence in Editing Award: Sam Pollard". IDA. International Documentary Association.
  4. ↑ Maxim, Nanette (2021-12-14). "Documenting the Gray Areas: Filmmaker Sam Pollard ('73)". Baruch College Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  5. 1 2 3 Desowitz, Bill (2003-12-01). "Collaboration: Editor Sam Pollard". Below the Line. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  6. ↑ Jennings, June (2023-11-02). "Filmmaker Sam Pollard on the 30-year journey to tell Max Roach's story | American Masters". PBS. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  7. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (1997-07-09). "Still Reeling From the Day Death Came to Birmingham". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  8. ↑ "Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming 2010". Television Academy. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  9. ↑ Hazelton, John (November 10, 2020). "Sam Pollard among IDA honourary award winners". ScreenDaily.
  10. ↑ Huchinson, Chase (January 15, 2021). "An Interview with Director Sam Pollard on MLK/FBI, Collaboration, and America's Double Standard". The Stranger.
  11. ↑ Schindel, Dan (January 12, 2021). "A Tribute to a Filmmaker Who's Chronicled Black Life, From Civil Rights to Post-Katrina New Orleans". Hyperallergic. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Meet the Filmmaker: Sam Pollard". Film at Lincoln Center. January 13, 2021. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  13. ↑ "Sam Pollard retrospective". Black Public Media. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  14. ↑ Henderson, Odie (December 2, 2016). "Two Trains Runnin' movie review". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  15. ↑ Tinubu, Aramide A. (February 20, 2017). "We Spoke to Director Sam Pollard About His PBS Documentary 'The Talk – Race in America' Which Premieres Tonight, Feb. 20". Shadow and Act. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  16. ↑ "ACORN and the Firestorm | 2017 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  17. ↑ "MAYNARD". DOC NYC. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  18. ↑ Linden, Sheri (2018-10-12). "'Mr. Soul!': Film Review | LAFF 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  19. ↑ Briger, Sam (2021-01-18). "Documentary Exposes How The FBI Tried To Destroy MLK With Wiretaps, Blackmail". NPR. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  20. ↑ "HBO's BLACK ART: IN THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT Debuts February 9". Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom. January 19, 2021. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  21. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (2021-07-15). "CNN Films, HBO Max Nab 'Citizen Ashe' Doc for 2022 Release". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  22. ↑ Girish, Devika (2022-12-01). "'Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power' Review: A Movement That Changed America". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  23. ↑ "We Watched and Reviewed 35 SIFF Films!". The Stranger. 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  24. ↑ "The League | 2023 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  25. ↑ "Ol' Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys". CPH:DOX. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  26. ↑ Carey, Matthew (2025-05-27). "'I Was Born This Way' Trailer: Tribeca-Bound Doc Celebrates Singer-Activist Carl Bean, Who Made Gay Anthem Famous, Inspiring Lady Gaga's Hit". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  27. 1 2 Pugh, Caleb (2024-01-18). "Sam Pollard takes filmmaking to next level". Our Weekly. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  28. ↑ "Style Wars". DCTV Firehouse Cinema. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  29. 1 2 "Sam Pollard". NYU Tisch. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  30. ↑ Morgan, David (June 1990). "Editor Sam Pollard". Wide Angle / Closeup. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  31. ↑ Canby, Vincent (June 7, 1991). "'Jungle Fever': Spike Lee's Comedy of Sorrow". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  32. ↑ Maslin, Janet (1992-01-17). "Review/Film; Too Much to Prove, and No Reason to Prove It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  33. ↑ "Sam Pollard". Festival del Cinema Africano, d'Asia e America Latina. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  34. 1 2 "Sam Pollard". VCFA. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  35. ↑ "The Very black show (Spike Lee, 2000)". La Cinémathèque française. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  36. ↑ "Behind the Scenes: The Art and Craft of Cinema with Editor Sam Pollard". BAMPFA. 2014-12-21. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  37. ↑ "QLS Classic: Sam Pollard - The Questlove Show". iHeart. April 20, 2025. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  38. ↑ Sag Harbor Cinema (2021-04-02). Samuel D. Pollard on CHISHOLM '72: UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED || Sag Harbor Cinema Conversations. Retrieved 2026-07-31 – via YouTube.
  39. ↑ Callenbach, Ernest (2006-12-01). "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts". Film Quarterly. 60 (2): 4–10. doi:10.1525/fq.2006.60.2.4. ISSN 0015-1386.
  40. ↑ "Sam Pollard". IDFA. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  41. ↑ "Sam Pollard | Emmy Awards and Nominations". Television Academy. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  42. ↑ Watch Gerrymandering Online | Vimeo On Demand. Retrieved 2026-07-31 – via vimeo.com.
  43. 1 2 3 "Sam Pollard". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  44. ↑ "Sam Pollard". Discovery. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
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