Sam Pollard (filmmaker)

Samuel D. Pollard is an American film director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. 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 Pollard's 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."

Career
Born in Harlem, New York, Samuel D. Pollard began his career in 1972 as an editor for Victor Kanefsky, after having taken courses in a workshop organized by WNET. He obtained a BA degree from Baruch College in 1973. Early in his career, he assisted George Bowers, the editor of A League of Their Own, The Good Son and The Stepfather. St. Clair Bourne was also a mentor.

Awards and recognition
In 1998, Pollard received an Academy Award nomination for 4 Little Girls with Spike Lee. In 2010, Pollard (with Geeta Gandbhir and Arielle Amsalem) received an Emmy Award (Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming) for the film By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave Pollard its first Career Achievement Award.

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

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

As director

 * 1990 – Eyes on the Prize, (2 episodes) documentary.
 * 2016 – Two Trains Runnin'.
 * 2017 – ACORN and the Firestorm (with Reuben Atlas).
 * 2017 – Maynard.
 * 2018 – Mr. Soul!, documentary.
 * 2020 – MLK/FBI, documentary.
 * 2021 – Black Art: In the Absence of Light, documentary.
 * 2021 – Citizen Ashe, documentary.
 * 2022 – Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, documentary (with Geeta Gandbhir)
 * 2022 – Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, documentary (with Ben Shapiro)
 * 2023 – The League, documentary (with executive producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson)

As editor

 * 1973 – Ganja and Hess
 * 1978 – Just Crazy About Horses, documentary.
 * 1981 – Night of the Zombies.
 * 1981 – Body and Soul, directed by George Bowers.
 * 1983 – Style Wars
 * 1984 – Smithsonian World, television series.
 * 1984 – Style Wars, documentary.
 * 1985 – Private Resort, directed by George Bowers.
 * 1985 – Tornado!.
 * 1985 – Nova, television documentary series.
 * 1987 – Distant Harmony, documentary.
 * 1988 – Depression, documentary.
 * 1990 – Mo' Better Blues, directed by Spike Lee.
 * 1991 – Jungle Fever, directed by Spike Lee.
 * 1992 – Juice.
 * 1993 – Fires in the Mirror, directed by George C. Wolfe, play written by Anna Deavere Smith.
 * 1994 – Surviving the Game.
 * 1994 – No Dreams Deferred.
 * 1995 – Clockers, directed by Spike Lee.
 * 1996 – Girl 6, directed by Spike Lee.
 * 1997 – 4 Little Girls, documentary.
 * 2000 – Bamboozled, directed by Spike Lee
 * 2000 – The Very Black Show.
 * 2000 – Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks, documentary.
 * 2002 – Hookers at the Point, documentary.
 * 2004 – Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed, documentary.
 * 2004 – Isn't This a Time! A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal, documentary.
 * 2005 – Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela, documentary.
 * 2006 – Katrina, documentary.
 * 2007 – Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, documentary.
 * 2009 – By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, documentary.
 * 2010 – Gerrymandering, documentary.
 * 2010 – Joe Papp in Five Acts, documentary.
 * 2010 – If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise, documentary series.