Filmmaking | Interviews

A Work of Genius

1 Sep , 2006  

Written by Nikki Chase | Posted by:

Documentary filmmaker and Emmy winner, Stanley Nelson, talks about his latest film Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, screening at the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival.

When you look at Stanley Nelson’s accomplishments it seems unfair to refer to him as just a filmmaker. Nelson is a 2002 MacArthur "genius" Fellow who has used film to give voice to important issues that were overlooked by popular culture. The MacArther Foundation described Nelson as "a documentary filmmaker with a signature style and a distinctive cinematic voice," and noted that "his films on a wide variety of subjects convey powerful stories with evocative technique."

He won a Primetime Emmy for Best Direction, nonfiction for his 2003 film The Murder of Emmett Till. Four of his films have shown at the Sundance Film Festival and he regularly produces and directs films for the PBS American Experience, public television’s longest running history series. The recognition and praise for his work comes not only from the filmmaking community, but has been shown by the journalistic community as well in the form of the George Foster Peabody Award, the highest honor in broadcast journalism.

Nelson received his B.F.A. in film from the City College of New York. He eventually founded his own company, Firelight Media with his partner and writer, Marcia Smith. On his company website he states that, "Film is an important tool in the struggle for understanding, awareness and social justice…We believe that film can inspire people to act, build cross-cultural understanding, challenge our thinking, make history relevant, and increase awareness."

Nelson has lived up to his beliefs with his latest film Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple. In this film he explores the evolution of the Peoples Temple under the leadership of Reverend Jim Jones as he attempts to uncover the real story behind the largest mass suicide in modern history that took place in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978.

Nikki Chase: Tell me about your latest film, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple.

Stanley Nelson: One of the things that make the film so fascinating is that there is a lot of material in the film that has never been seen before. We have people talking about it who were actually there and who escaped, but saw their husbands and wives die from the poison. Footage of Jim preaching in the temple, a beautiful shot that has never been seen before, and tapes that people were just keeping in their closet. Also, Peoples Temple actually audio recorded the death of the people screaming and crying and dying. There’s a ton of material so for anybody who thinks they know about Jim Jones and the Temple, there’s still plenty to see.

NC: Why did you decided to do a documentary on Jim Jones and Peoples Temple?

Nelson: A couple years ago I heard Peoples Temple members on the radio and I was captivated by their story and the way they talked about it. It was very different from the stories that I had heard. The way they talked about it as an integrated community. It was just so different from what I previously heard about it that it fascinated me.

NC: Did you know a lot about Jim Jones when you started the film or did you begin to discover things as the production went on?

Nelson: In the beginning, I didn’t know anything more about it than anyone else at the time. All I knew was that there was a crazy man who had over 900 people commit suicide. I found out there was a lot more to it. That it was a social active movement and they wanted to change the world and better the world. They were almost a mainstream community in San Francisco at the time. They were part of the establishment and they were friends with a lot of politicians. They were just not this lunatic bunch of people.

NC: One of the people you interviewed for the film said that everything about Jim Jones was a paradox. That he wanted to create something great, but there were sinister undertones. What do you personally think of Jim Jones?

Nelson: I think that that’s true and that it’s one of the hardest things to come to grips with. I mean, he wasn’t pure evil. There were a lot of good messages in his church. For a good part of their existence, in some ways, they did great work. But there was a whole strand of bad things attached to that.

NC: Any plans for a nationwide theatrical release of the film?

Nelson: Actually, yes. It is going to be released in New York on October 20th at the Quad Cinema and then on November 3rd it will be released in San Francisco & Berkley at the Landmark Theater.

NC: Many of your films have aired on PBS, will you do the same with this one?

Nelson: Yes, this film was made for American Experience, PBS’s prime history show, but it won’t be airing on the channel until 2007.

NC: Do you have anything in mind for your next project?

Nelson: Right now we’re actually working on something that we’re starting production on in a week. It’s another project for PBS’s American Experience. It’s about American Indians in the 70’s, and it’s part of a huge five-part series that American Experience is doing on Native Americans.

NC: Do you always portray your subjects neutrally or do you sometimes find that there is a bias in your direction that you may not have noticed?

Nelson: I think that in all films there is some kind of opinion, but I try for the films to be journalistically rigorous. We don’t want the subjectivity to show, but in order to make it there has to be some amount of subjectivity. I’m trying to sell the story honestly but also from a certain perspective.

NC: How do you choose your film topics?

Nelson: I initiate my projects myself. Filmmaking is a long process, sometimes an extremely long process, so I want something that will hold my interest for however many years I’m going to be working on it.

NC: Do you feel that your films raise questions or answer them?

Nelson: They do a little bit of both. In Jim Jones, there is no narrator so some of the questions and the opinions that the narrator can give you don’t exist in that film. So there’s less of giving you answers and more of letting the audience reach their own conclusions. There are no easy answers to Jim Jones and that story. They didn’t drop him on his head as a baby and that’s the reason all of this happened, it doesn’t work like that.

NC: Many of your films focus on individuals who were heroes to many people. Who are your heroes?

Nelson: I guess my parents are my heroes. How they lived and what they gave me. It’s hard for me to answer. I suppose I don’t really think of that a lot.

For more information about the film and Nelson’s work, visit http://www.firelightmedia.org/. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple will screen on September 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival. For more information, visit http://www.mvfilmfest.com/.


For more information about the film and Nelson's work, visit http://www.firelightmedia.org/. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple will screen on September 15 at the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival. For more information, visit http://www.mvfilmfest.com/.

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