ESTATE OF DENIS SANDERS
Acclaimed and celebrated, visionary filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter Denis Sanders was a two-time Academy Award winner for documentary and short film. Born in New York City in 1929, the first son of groundbreaking designer and sculptor and social activist, Altina Schinasi, and prominent, innovative, and widely respected architect and designer Morris Sanders, Denis Sanders’s career behind the camera was illustrious and diversified. He directed legendary actors in their motion picture debuts, Robert Redford in War Hunt, 1962 and George Hamilton in Crime and Punishment, U.S.A. (1959), a Beat Generation version of the classic Dostoyevsky novel.
As an undergraduate, Sanders studied filmmaking at the University of California. His start quickly proved auspicious. While in fulfillment of an academic requirement there, he and his brother, Terry, made a two-reel short subject; A Time Out of War, based on a Civil War incident, won numerous awards, amongst them honors from the Screen Producers Guild and the Edinburgh and Venice Festivals. In 1954, the film garnered an Academy Award. His second Oscar came in 1969 for his documentary film, Czechoslovakia 1968. He directed numerous luminaries, including Lauren Bacall, Ossie Davis, Roddy McDowall, and Elvis Presley.
One of Denis Sanders’ greatest passions was social and socio-political commentary and activism, telling truth to power. In 1971, he and Robert M. Fresco filmed Trial — The City and County of Denver vs. Lauren S. Watson, a six-hour documentary centered on the trial of a Black Panther Party member. That same year, he directed Soul to Soul, a documentary film about the Independence Day concert in Ghana, attended by 100,000, featuring a dazzling array of musicians, Wilson Pickett, Tina Turner, Santana, and Roberta Flack to name only a few. The film which has been wildly celebrated posthumously for Sanders, was recently restored to its original edit and has been championed by music legend Questlove, who showcased and introduced it at BAM, bringing renewed attention to this “monumental cross-cultural musical journey.”
In 1980, Denis Sanders joined San Diego University as a professor and filmmaker in residence. He continued working on motion pictures until his sudden, untimely death in 1987.
Scene from ‘Elvis: That’s the Way It Is,’ directed by Denis Sanders
Press
That Eric Alper, “Elvis Presley’s ‘That’s The Way It Is’ Returns To The Stage Where It Happened,” Oct. 12, 2026. Click here to read.