POV's 2016 Season
View AllShort Film
Digital Premiere: Feb. 1, 2016
Wendell Scott was the first African American inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. His son, Frank, remembers what it took for his father to cross the finish line at racetracks throughout the South in the '60s and '70s.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: April 13, 2016
Storm Reyes found hope the day a bookmobile arrived at her migrant camp near Tacoma, Washington in the 1960's.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: May 23, 2016
In 2012, California amended its "Three Strikes" law, shortening the sentences of thousands of "lifers." See this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines — prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. A co-production of American Documentary | POV and ITVS. A co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). Official Selection of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: May 30, 2016
At a first-of-its-kind PTSD treatment center in California, follow Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families on their paths to recovery as they attempt to make peace with their pasts, their loved ones and themselves.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: June 6, 2016
A moving account of four women sensationalized by the media as a "Gang of Killer Lesbians" reveals the role that race, gender identity and sexuality play in our criminal justice system. A co-production of ITVS. A co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: June 13, 2016
When Pam White is diagnosed at age 61 with early-onset Alzheimer's, her family grapples with the disease alongside her, and her eldest son attempts to recover her memories by recording conversations in this visually rich, poignant film.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: June 27, 2016
In this Oscar®-nominated film, winner of more than 70 awards, an optometrist identifies the men who killed his brother in the horrific 1965 Indonesian genocide. He confronts them while testing their eyesight and demands they accept responsibility. Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Critics Prize and Human Rights Award, 2014 Venice Film Festival.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: July 11, 2016
On her 90th birthday, Rosemarie and Ray celebrate with a trip to In-N-Out.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 11, 2016
Florida Justice Transitions trailer park is home to 120 sex offenders, all battling their own demons as they work toward rejoining society. This film considers how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse — and the silence surrounding it — can be broken.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 1, 2016
Iris pairs the late documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), then 87, with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 5, 2016
Who better to cover the Paralympics than a disabled filmmaker who hates sports and deems the games "stupid"? When Niko von Glasow meets the Rwandan sitting volleyball team and an American archer without arms, his notions get blown away.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 12, 2016
Seven players with 620 years between them compete in the Over 80 World Table Tennis Championships. Ping Pong is a meditation on mortality and a joyous tribute to the human spirit.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 22, 2016
A cat-and-mouse caper told with humor and compassion, Art and Craft uncovers the universal in one man's search for connection and respect. Official Selection of the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Named a Top 5 Documentary by the National Board of Review. Produced in association with American Documentary | POV.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 29, 2016
An extraordinary look into a internet addiction rehab in Beijing, China, the first country in the world to classify this evolving diagnosis. Official Selection of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Sept. 2, 2016
Reverend James L. Seawood remembers what happened to his elementary school after the last African American family was forced out of Sheridan, Arkansas, in the 1950's.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 5, 2016
Go behind the scenes at Japan's Yoshida Brewery, where a brotherhood of artisans, ranging from 20 to 70, spend six months in nearly monastic isolation as they follow an age-old process to create saké, the nation's revered rice wine. A co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Winner, Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary Director, 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 12, 2016
Accompany two African-American teens from the South Side of Chicago on their journey to achieve their dream of graduating from college. A co-production of American Documentary | POV; Part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
In Theo Rigby and Kate McLean's short film Marathon, an undocumented immigrant, Julio Sauce, competes in the New York City Marathon. This film is part of Immigrant Nation, an interactive storytelling project designed to collect immigrant narratives and share them with the world.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war. Witness the human side of the conflict through the eyes of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, an activist nun in Mexico and a former Texas smuggler. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 10, 2016
An intimate portrait of a gender-nonconforming boy growing up in conservative rural Florida.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 10, 2016
When director Sharon Shattuck's father came out as transgender, Sharon was in the awkward throes of middle school. As the Shattucks reunite to plan Sharon's wedding, she seeks a deeper understanding of how her parents' marriage, and their family, survived intact.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 17, 2016
The danger is palpable as intrepid young filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan (aka Hooligan Sparrow) and her band of colleagues to southern China as they seek justice in the case of six elementary school girls allegedly sexually abused by their principal. A co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Official Selection of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 24, 2016
When Ryan Green, a video game programmer, learns that his young son Joel has cancer, he and his wife begin documenting their emotional journey with a poetic video game. Thank You for Playing follows Ryan and his family over two years creating "That Dragon, Cancer," which evolves from a cathartic exercise into a critically acclaimed work of art that sets the gaming industry abuzz. A co-production of American Documentary | POV and ITVS. Official Selection of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 31, 2016
Inside the very first girls' school in a small Afghan village, education goes far beyond the classroom as the students discover the differences between the lives they were born into and the lives they dream of leading. A co-production of ITVS.
Streaming Now
View AllShort Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
In Theo Rigby and Kate McLean's short film Marathon, an undocumented immigrant, Julio Sauce, competes in the New York City Marathon. This film is part of Immigrant Nation, an interactive storytelling project designed to collect immigrant narratives and share them with the world.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Jan. 7, 2013
A veteran reporter and his colleagues at an independent newsweekly defy powerful drug cartels and corrupt officials to continue publishing the news.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war. Witness the human side of the conflict through the eyes of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, an activist nun in Mexico and a former Texas smuggler. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 15, 2013
Three teens in a Southern California town wrestle with questions of love and friendship along with adult realities of financial uncertainty.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 22, 2016
A cat-and-mouse caper told with humor and compassion, Art and Craft uncovers the universal in one man's search for connection and respect. Official Selection of the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Named a Top 5 Documentary by the National Board of Review. Produced in association with American Documentary | POV.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 14, 2013
In 1964 a group of 7-year-old children were interviewed for the groundbreaking documentary Seven Up. Michael Apted has been back to film them every seven years since. Now they are 56.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 18, 2015
An Oscar®-nominated reflection on love, sacrifice and the creative spirit, this candid New York tale explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed "boxing" painter Ushio Shinohara and artist Noriko Shinohara.Winner, Directing Award: U.S. Documentary, 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Feb. 3, 2014
In American Promise, African-American parents Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson film their son and his friend, who attend one of the country’s most prestigious private schools.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 21, 2014
At 15, Russian ballroom dancer Egor leaves everyone and everything he knows for a chance to team up with 14-year-old Mie, one of Denmark's most promising young performers. Will his choice be worth the sacrifices he must make?
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 12, 2016
Accompany two African-American teens from the South Side of Chicago on their journey to achieve their dream of graduating from college. A co-production of American Documentary | POV; Part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Sept. 2, 2016
Reverend James L. Seawood remembers what happened to his elementary school after the last African American family was forced out of Sheridan, Arkansas, in the 1950's.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: July 11, 2016
On her 90th birthday, Rosemarie and Ray celebrate with a trip to In-N-Out.
Feature Film
Digital Premiere: Sept. 11, 2015
Since 2010, POV and StoryCorps have brought over 30 animated shorts to PBS and online audiences.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: April 13, 2016
Storm Reyes found hope the day a bookmobile arrived at her migrant camp near Tacoma, Washington in the 1960's.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Feb. 1, 2016
Wendell Scott was the first African American inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. His son, Frank, remembers what it took for his father to cross the finish line at racetracks throughout the South in the '60s and '70s.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 18, 2009
Go behind the scenes at the Patina V Mannequin Factory in City of Industry, Calif., of the artistry, craft and marketing that go into creating "the ideal woman of the moment" — in plastic.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Oct. 11, 2015
Patrick Haggerty remembers his father's unexpected advice to his gay son in rural Washington during the 1950s.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 21, 2015
Each night in Silicon Valley, the Line 22 transforms from a public bus into an unofficial shelter for the homeless in one of the richest parts of the world. Hotel 22 captures a single, dramatic night on the Line 22 route.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: June 29, 2015
Theresa Burroughs recalls her persistence to claim her right to vote during the Jim Crow era in the rural South.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: June 29, 2015
The Caretaker is a portrait of two women who are outsiders in the place they call home. Haru is a 95-year-old Japanese-American migrant who was interned during World War II. Joesy is an undocumented worker from Fiji who cares for her.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 21, 2015
Alex Landau, who is African American, recalls how he nearly lost his life following a traffic stop with the Denver police. He and his mother, Patsy, who is white, remember that night and how it changed them both forever.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 11, 2015
New York City sanitation worker Angelo Bruno and his long-time partner, Eddie Nieves, talk about becoming a part of the community they served on their route.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Nov. 11, 2014
In August 2005, Travis Williams and his squad were sent on a rescue mission in Iraq.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Nov. 10, 2014
In 2005, Specialist Justin Cliburn deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. While serving in Baghdad, Justin formed an unlikely friendship with two Iraqi boys who lived nearby. At StoryCorps, Justin speaks with his wife, Deanne, about the lasting impression the boys left on his life.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Nov. 10, 2014
StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative aims to bridge the gap between veterans and civilians.
Popular Films
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: March 24, 2013
The provocative film is a lyrical exploration of youth, beauty and ambition, seen through the eyes of a conflicted American modeling scout and the 13-year-old girl she discovers.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 12, 2016
Accompany two African-American teens from the South Side of Chicago on their journey to achieve their dream of graduating from college. A co-production of American Documentary | POV; Part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 11, 2016
Florida Justice Transitions trailer park is home to 120 sex offenders, all battling their own demons as they work toward rejoining society. This film considers how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse — and the silence surrounding it — can be broken.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 5, 2016
Go behind the scenes at Japan's Yoshida Brewery, where a brotherhood of artisans, ranging from 20 to 70, spend six months in nearly monastic isolation as they follow an age-old process to create saké, the nation's revered rice wine. A co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Winner, Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary Director, 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 29, 2000
There are over one million Gypsies living in America today, and most people don't know anything about them. It is one man's obsessive pursuit of justice and dignity that led filmmaker Jasmine Dellal into their hidden thousand-year-old culture.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: May 23, 2016
In 2012, California amended its "Three Strikes" law, shortening the sentences of thousands of "lifers." See this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines — prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. A co-production of American Documentary | POV and ITVS. A co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). Official Selection of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
Feature Film
Encore Broadcast: Aug. 9, 2011
This 2010 Oscar-nominated film lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 28, 2004
Follow two young refugees from the Dinka tribe, Peter and Santino, through their first year in America. Nearly 4,000 'lost boys' have emigrated to the United States.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Feb. 3, 2014
In American Promise, African-American parents Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson film their son and his friend, who attend one of the country’s most prestigious private schools.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 1, 2016
Iris pairs the late documentarian Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), then 87, with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Feb. 7, 2005
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to run for president. Her wit, spirit and charisma reminds all Americans of their power as citizens.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war. Witness the human side of the conflict through the eyes of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, an activist nun in Mexico and a former Texas smuggler. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 14, 2013
In 1964 a group of 7-year-old children were interviewed for the groundbreaking documentary Seven Up. Michael Apted has been back to film them every seven years since. Now they are 56.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 21, 2015
In a community where silence is seen as necessary for survival, immigrant activist Angy Rivera joins a generation of Dreamers ready to push for change in the only home she's ever known — the United States. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 5, 1988
Rich in humor and regional color, this sometimes hilarious film uses the prism of language to reveal our attitudes about the way other people speak. From Boston Brahmins to Black Louisiana teenagers, from Texas cowboys to New York professionals, American Tongues elicits funny, perceptive, sometimes shocking, and always telling comments on American English in all its diversity.
#MiHistoria: Films to Honor Hispanic Heritage Month
View AllFeature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 21, 2015
In a community where silence is seen as necessary for survival, immigrant activist Angy Rivera joins a generation of Dreamers ready to push for change in the only home she's ever known — the United States. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 1, 2006
The proud Mexican tradition of corrido music provides both heartbeat and backbone to this rich examination of songs, drugs and dreams along the U.S./Mexico border.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 27, 2015
A charming and poignant look at how a seemingly mundane routine of tea and pastries has helped five Chilean women commemorate life's joys and cope with infidelity, illness and death. A co-production of ITVS International. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.Official Selection of the 2014 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 1, 2009
Two women matadors in Spain have a passion for bullfighting and are determined to pursue their dreams. What is it like for women to enter into this male-dominated arena?
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 16, 2008
A sweeping story of seven Mexican-American men grappling with the meaning of masculinity, fatherhood and a legacy of rootless beginnings.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: April 7, 2014
Irma is an intimate musical portrait of Irma Gonzalez, the former world champion of women's professional wrestling.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
In Theo Rigby and Kate McLean's short film Marathon, an undocumented immigrant, Julio Sauce, competes in the New York City Marathon. This film is part of Immigrant Nation, an interactive storytelling project designed to collect immigrant narratives and share them with the world.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 19, 2016
Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war. Witness the human side of the conflict through the eyes of a U.S. drug enforcement agent, an activist nun in Mexico and a former Texas smuggler. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB).
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Jan. 7, 2013
A veteran reporter and his colleagues at an independent newsweekly defy powerful drug cartels and corrupt officials to continue publishing the news.
Ready to get back to school?
View AllShort Film
Digital Premiere: Feb. 3, 2014
In San Francisco County Jail, Five Keys Charter School is trying to reduce recidivism rates by giving inmates a chance to earn a high school diploma.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Sept. 2, 2016
Reverend James L. Seawood remembers what happened to his elementary school after the last African American family was forced out of Sheridan, Arkansas, in the 1950's.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: Feb. 3, 2014
A high school jazz teacher helps kids in LA's toughest neighborhoods go to college.
Short Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 7, 2010
The daughter of two Mexican immigrants reveals how much she saw of her parents' lives as a child — and the inspiration she drew from their struggles.
Short Film
Digital Premiere: May 12, 2014
An intimate portrait of two men born worlds apart but connected by their dreams of a better life.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Feb. 3, 2014
In American Promise, African-American parents Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson film their son and his friend, who attend one of the country’s most prestigious private schools.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 12, 2016
Accompany two African-American teens from the South Side of Chicago on their journey to achieve their dream of graduating from college. A co-production of American Documentary | POV; Part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 31, 2016
Inside the very first girls' school in a small Afghan village, education goes far beyond the classroom as the students discover the differences between the lives they were born into and the lives they dream of leading. A co-production of ITVS.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Aug. 17, 2015
One teacher prepares his students for their new life in Switzerland as they struggle to learn a new language, prepare themselves for employment and reveal their innermost hopes and dreams.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 20, 2011
Four Filipino women leave their families and schools to teach in the U.S. The women bring idealistic visions of the teacher's craft and of American life.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 23, 2013
A Newark, N.J. public high school teacher races against the clock to find a place in the world for her students with autism before they graduate and "age out" of a unique and caring support system.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Oct. 7, 2013
Brooklyn public school I.S. 318, serving mostly minority students from working-class families, has won more than 30 national chess championships, the country’s best record.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: July 19, 2012
Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God.
Feature Film
PBS Premiere: Sept. 22, 2009
Rocky Otoo is the sassy teenage daughter of Ghanaian parents. After she rebels against her mother's rule in the Bronx, she flees to her father, a chief in Ghana.