Sam Pollard (filmmaker) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Samuel D. Pollard
Pollard at the 2011 Peabody Awards
Born	Harlem, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Baruch College (BA)
Occupation	Filmmaker
Awards	Peabody Award (2020)

Samuel D. Pollard is a talented American filmmaker. He works as a director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. His movies have won many important awards, like Peabodys and Emmys. He was even nominated for an Academy Award. In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave him a special award for his amazing career.

Famous director Spike Lee, who has worked with Pollard many times, calls him a "master filmmaker." Henry Louis Gates Jr., a well-known historian, says that Pollard's documentaries tell "African-American history in its various dimensions." This means his films help us understand important parts of Black history.

About Samuel Pollard

Samuel D. Pollard was born in Harlem, New York. He started his career in 1972 as an editor. An editor is someone who puts together all the different shots and sounds to create a finished movie. He learned a lot from workshops and got his college degree from Baruch College in 1973. Early in his career, he learned from experienced editors like George Bowers and St. Clair Bourne.

Awards and Special Recognition

Samuel Pollard has received many honors for his work.

• In 1998, he was nominated for an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the film 4 Little Girls. He worked on this film with Spike Lee.
• In 2010, he won an Emmy Award for his editing work on By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. This award was for outstanding editing in a non-fiction film.
• In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave him their first-ever Career Achievement Award. This award celebrates his long and successful career in documentary filmmaking.
• His documentary MLK/FBI was named the best documentary at the 2020 San Diego International Film Festival.
• In 2021, a special event called "Tribute to Sam Pollard" was held at Film at Lincoln Center. They showed many of his documentaries and called him one of "cinema’s most dedicated chroniclers of the Black experience in America." This means he is very dedicated to telling stories about Black experiences in America through film.

Samuel Pollard's Films

Samuel Pollard has worked on many films, both as a director and as an editor.

As a Director

As a director, Samuel Pollard guides the making of the film. He decides how the story will be told and what the audience will see. Here are some of the films he has directed:

• 1990 – Eyes on the Prize, a documentary series.
• 2016 – Two Trains Runnin', a documentary.
• 2017 – ACORN and the Firestorm, a documentary he co-directed.
• 2018 – Mr. Soul!, a documentary.
• 2020 – MLK/FBI, a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr.
• 2021 – Black Art: In the Absence of Light, a documentary about Black artists.
• 2021 – Citizen Ashe, a documentary about tennis star Arthur Ashe.
• 2022 – Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, a documentary.
• 2023 – The League, a documentary about baseball.

As an Editor

As an editor, Samuel Pollard takes all the raw footage and puts it together to create the final movie. He chooses which shots to use, how long they last, and how they flow together. He has edited many films, including several for director Spike Lee:

• 1973 – Ganja and Hess
• 1983 – Style Wars, a documentary.
• 1990 – Mo' Better Blues, directed by Spike Lee.
• 1991 – Jungle Fever, directed by Spike Lee.
• 1995 – Clockers, directed by Spike Lee.
• 1997 – 4 Little Girls, a documentary that earned him an Oscar nomination.
• 2000 – Bamboozled, directed by Spike Lee.
• 2009 – By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, a documentary for which he won an Emmy.

See also

In Spanish: Samuel Pollard para niños