Filmmaker Sam Pollard speaks at Black History Month film festival

By Grace Collier, Contributing Writer

Daytime Emmy award winning film director and editor Sam Pollard attended the College of Liberal Arts Black History Month film festival on Tuesday to talk about the importance of Black stories in film. 

Pollards’ work dives into themes about social justice, identity and historical representation. Some of Pollard’s most famous works are “Mr. Soul!”, “Sammy Davis Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me”, and “MLK/FBI.”  He talked about how Black history can get swept away and that it’s important to highlight it on a big screen. 

“Our stories are American stories,” Pollard said. “Black History Month, to me, is Black history year.” 

Pollard didn’t always think he’d be a filmmaker. He decided to go into business with a marketing degree and only discovered his passion for documentaries and bringing history to the screen after his schooling. 

“I hope that these topics, these films that I’ve done will encourage people to go and read the books about the subject, you know, to really dig into that subject and to learn more about it,” Pollard said.  

Program Director for African and African American Studies Donn Worgs provided insight on the role Pollard played in emphasizing the importance of Black history Month and bringing the history to life in an artistic, moving way.  

“If people are exposed to art history, ideas that they may not have been exposed to, and it shines a spotlight on works, on people, on events that are under appreciated,” Worgs said.

There were about 50 attendees at Pollards presentation, many of them students. 

“I think the presentation was overall very interesting,” senior Kourtney Goldring said.  “It opened my eyes to a new side of film and how impactful it is to not only everyone but also a specific group of people in order to get their voices shared.”