AFI is proud to announce that AFI DOCS will pay tribute to pioneering documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson as its 2015 Charles Guggenheim Symposium honoree. The Symposium, which will include a discussion and Q&A with the filmmaker, will take place during the Washington, DC-area festival on June 19, 2015.  The Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday will moderate.

Nelson’s documentary THE MURDER OF EMMETT TILL (2003) won numerous awards, including an Emmy® for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming, the Sundance Film Festival 2003 Special Jury Prize and the George Foster Peabody Award. The documentary aided in the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to reopen the 1955 murder investigation of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy killed after allegedly flirting with a white woman, citing new evidence exposed in Nelson’s film.

Said Michael Lumpkin, Director of AFI DOCS.

“Stanley Nelson’s masterful documentation of American history will continue to inspire audiences and young filmmakers for generations. We are proud to pay tribute to Nelson’s vibrant career and his ability to provoke change through documentary filmmaking.”

AFI DOCS is proud to present Nelson’s latest documentary THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION as part of the 2015 program.

The AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors masters of the non-fiction art form who inspire audiences by documenting and exploring the human experience. Read about past honorees here.

The Guggenheim Symposium is free and open to the public and will take place at the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives in Washington, DC.