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Schedule

POV airs new independent documentaries on Tuesday nights during the summer and fall. Dates and times below reflect the national PBS broadcast schedule.

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy

by Stephanie Wang-Breal

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 31 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: September 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010 Watch now »


What is it like to be torn from your Chinese foster family, put on a plane with strangers and wake up in a new country, family and culture?

Read the full film description »

Germans in the Woods

by Mike Rauch , Tim Rauch

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 31 at 11:25 PM (2 minutes)
  • Online: September 1, 2010 through September 1, 2014 Watch now »


Joseph Robertson was an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II, and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Read the full film description »

Off and Running

by Nicole Opper

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 7 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: September 8, 2010 to December 7, 2010


Avery is one of three children adopted by a Jewish lesbian couple in Brooklyn. Though it may not look typical, Avery’s is like most families—until she writes to her birth mother.

Read the full film description »

The Human Voice

by Mike Rauch, Tim Rauch

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 7 at 11:20 PM (2 minutes)
  • Online: September 8, 2010 to September 8, 2014


Studs Terkel talks about what has been lost in modern life and where he sees hope for our future.

Read the full film description »

The Icing on the Cake

by Mike Rauch, Tim Rauch

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 7 at 11:25 PM (2 minutes)
  • Online: September 8, 2010 to September 8, 2014


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.

Read the full film description »

In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee

by Deann Borshay Liem

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 14 at 10:00 PM (60 minutes)
  • Online: September 15, 2010 to October 15, 2010


Her passport said she was Cha Jung Hee. She knew she was not. So began a 40-year deception for a Korean adoptee who came to the United States in 1966.

Read the full film description »

The Oath

by Laura Poitras

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 21 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)


Filmed in Yemen and Guantánamo, Poitras interweaves the stories of Abu Jandal, bin Laden's former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner facing war crimes charges.

Read the full film description »

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

by Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith

Broadcast: Tuesday, October 5 at 9:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: October 6, 2010 to October 27, 2010


In 1971, a whistleblower's daring act of conscience led directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.

Read the full film description »

Food, Inc.

by Robert Kenner

Broadcast: Wednesday, April 21 at 9:00 PM (120 minutes)


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.

Read the full film description »

Notes on Milk

by Ariana Gerstein , Monteith McCollum

Broadcast: Wednesday, April 21 at 9:00 PM (20 minutes)


A poetic look at some lesser-known aspects of America’s favorite drink: the industry’s spiritual underpinnings, politics and the struggle of independent farmers.

Read the full film description »

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

by Emily Kunstler , Sarah Kunstler

Broadcast: Tuesday, June 22 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: June 23, 2010 through September 21, 2010 Watch now »


In this intimate biography, Kunstler's daughters seek to recover the real story of what made their late father one of the most beloved, and hated, lawyers in America. Watch online »

Read the full film description »

The Beaches of Agnès

by Agnès Varda

Broadcast: Tuesday, June 29 at 10:00 PM (120 minutes)


In this delightful memoir, the award-winning French filmmaker employs all the magic of cinema to juxtapose the real and the imagined, the past and the present, pain and joy. Watch online »

Read the full film description »

A Different Color Blue

by Melanie Vi Levy

Broadcast: Tuesday, June 29 at 11:55 PM (4 minutes)
  • Online: June 30, 2010 through December 31, 2015 Watch now »


Charles Curtis Blackwell, a semi-blind artist, lost most of his eyesight in an accident during his youth, but this adversity has only heightened his artistic gifts.

Read the full film description »

Promised Land

by Yoruba Richen

Broadcast: Tuesday, July 6 at 10:00 PM (60 minutes)


Though apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, economic injustices between blacks and whites remain unresolved — and the most potentially explosive issue is land.

Read the full film description »

Good Fortune

by Landon Van Soest , Jeremy Levine

Broadcast: Tuesday, July 13 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: July 14, 2010 through October 12, 2010 Watch now »


Good Fortune is a provocative exploration of how massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit.

Read the full film description »

Bye

by Anthony Morrison

Broadcast: Tuesday, July 13 at 11:45 PM (9 minutes)


Bye follows Jayden, a two and half year old diagnosed with autism, through his first months of school in the Bronx.

Read the full film description »

El General

by Natalia Almada

Broadcast: Tuesday, July 20 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
  • Online: July 21, 2010 through September 4, 2010 Watch now »


Past and present collide as the daughter of Plutarco Elías Calles, a revolutionary general who became Mexico’s president in 1924, reflects on his legacy.

Read the full film description »

Presumed Guilty

by Roberto Hernández, Layda Negrete , Geoffrey Smith

Broadcast: Tuesday, July 27 at 10:00 PM (60 minutes)


Imagine being picked up off the street, told you have committed a murder you know nothing about and then finding yourself sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Read the full film description »

The Way We Get By

by Aron Gaudet

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 3 at 10:00 PM (90 minutes)
This is an encore performance.*
  • Online: August 4, 2010 through September 27, 2010 Watch now »


Over the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine.

Read the full film description »

* Note: Not all PBS stations choose to rebroadcast encore presentations. Please check local listings to see whether this show will be airing.

First Person Plural

by Deann Borshay Liem

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 10 at 10:00 PM (60 minutes)
This is an encore performance.*
  • Online: August 11, 2010 through September 11, 2010 Watch now »


A young Korean girl grows up with an American family: but years later, Deann Borshay Liem discovers that her Korean mother is still very much alive.

Read the full film description »

* Note: Not all PBS stations choose to rebroadcast encore presentations. Please check local listings to see whether this show will be airing.

SALT

by Michael Angus , Murray Fredericks

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 17 at 10:00 PM (28 minutes)
  • Online: August 18, 2010 through September 17, 2010 Watch now »


Made in collaboration with documentary filmmaker Michael Angus, SALT is the film extension of Murray Fredericks’ photography at the desolate yet beautiful Lake Eyre.

Read the full film description »

Danny and Annie: Parts I & II

by Mike Rauch , Tim Rauch

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 17 at 10:30 PM (7 minutes)
  • Online: August 18, 2010 through August 18, 2014 Watch now »


In an intimate and heartbreaking glimpse into a marriage, this animated short witnesses true love as it braves the finality of loss.

Read the full film description »

A Healing Art

by Ellen Frick

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 17 at 10:40 PM (7 minutes)
  • Online: October 9, 2009 through August 17, 2014 Watch now »


Artificial eye makers combine artistry, skill and compassion, making eyes that are masterful works of art, and rekindling hope for their patients.

Read the full film description »

The Archive

by Sean Dunne

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 17 at 10:50 PM (7 minutes)
  • Online: August 18, 2010 through August 18, 2014 Watch now »


This is the story of a man and his records. Paul Mawhinney has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection.

Read the full film description »

Trash-Out

by Maria Fortiz-Morse

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 17 at 10:55 PM (5 minutes)
  • Online: August 18, 2010 through August 18, 2014 Watch now »


This deeply affecting and simple short shows workers cleaning out a house that has been foreclosed upon. What does an empty house say that was once a home?

Read the full film description »

Q&A

by Mike Rauch , Tim Rauch

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 24 at 10:00 PM (4 minutes)
  • Online: May 6, 2010 to May 6, 2014


This four-minute animated short from the producers of StoryCorps features Joshua Littman, a 12-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome, interviewing his mother, Sarah.

Read the full film description »

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Watch Films Online

Select POV films are now available in their entirety online for a limited time. Visit our Watch Films Page for the full list.

Here are some highlights.

The Way We Get By
The Way We Get By

Over the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. (90 minutes)

El General
El General

Past and present collide as the daughter of Plutarco Elías Calles, a revolutionary general who became Mexico’s president in 1924, reflects on his legacy. (90 minutes)

Good Fortune
Good Fortune

A provocative exploration of how massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit. (90 minutes)

Promised Land
Promised Land

Though apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, economic injustices between blacks and whites remain unresolved — and the most potentially explosive issue is land. (60 minutes)

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

In this intimate biography, Kunstler's daughters seek to recover the real story of what made their late father one of the most beloved, and hated, lawyers in America. (84 minutes)

Notes on Milk
Notes on Milk

A poetic look at some lesser-known aspects of America’s favorite drink: the industry’s spiritual underpinnings, politics and the struggle of independent farmers. (20 minutes)

Thirst
Thirst

Population growth, pollution, and scarcity are turning water into "blue gold," the oil of the 21st century. (54 minutes) through October 16, 2010

Butterfly
Butterfly

In December 1997, Julia Hill climbed a 1000-year-old redwood tree vowing to not come down until it was saved from being clear-cut. (30 minutes) through April 19, 2011

Hybrid
Hybrid

Welcome to the American Midwest, land of corn and visionary farmers like Milford Beeghly. Hybrid combines interviews, original animation and rare dry wit to create a meditative portrait of the energetic Beeghly. (54 minutes) through April 19, 2011

Online Short Films Fest


Germans in the Woods

The groundbreaking public radio project StoryCorps enters into the world of television for the first time with a series of animated shorts that airs on POV. Joseph Robertson was an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II, and...


Seltzer Works

The last bottler in Brooklyn fends off the supermarket seltzer take-over and honors this simple drink's place in history. (7 minutes) More about this film »...


Trash-Out

This deeply affecting and simple short shows workers cleaning out a house that has been foreclosed upon. What do the things left behind say about a family? What does an empty house say that was once a home? In a...


The Archive

This is the story of a man and his records. Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record...


Danny and Annie: Parts I & II

The groundbreaking public radio project StoryCorps will enter into the world of television for the first time with a series of animated shorts that will air on POV later this summer. In Part One, Brooklyn natives Danny and Annie Perasa...


A Different Color Blue

In a dusty art studio tucked away in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, artist Charles Curtis Blackwell pores over works of beauty and remarkable spirit. A Different Color Blue explores the redemptive power of art, an ability to find hope in...


Follow Jayden, a two and half year old diagnosed with autism, through his first months of school in the Bronx. Bye will be broadcast after Good Fortune. Bye was supported by Cinereach through the Reach Film Fellowship....


Behind the Lens

Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker won their first Peabody in 1988 for American Tongues, a film about the differences in the way Americans speak and the attitudes people have about regional and social accents. It was the very first film...