POV launches curated streaming list of archive films with POV Playlist
Playlist #1: "Getting Somewhere" | Monday, May 13, 2019
Biweekly Roundup Cuts Away Clutter of TV
New York, N.Y. — May 13, 2019 — Dozens of apps, thousands of shows—where does one start in today's golden age of television? POV Playlist, launching today in inboxes across the country, promises to cut through the noise with a biweekly curation of the most powerful and hard-hitting docs that have premiered on PBS since 1988. Films from America ReFramed, the sister series on WORLD Channel, will also feature on the POV Playlist.
The POV Playlist features four thematically linked films coming from POV's 31-year archive of independent documentaries. Audiences can find out about upcoming titles from the Playlist's biweekly newsletter or by visiting the website of POV's parent company, American Documentary, at amdoc.org.
Films in each Playlist will be available to stream for free online and on the PBS app for two weeks, after which the films' availability will expire and the Playlist will refresh every two weeks with a new thematic package of shows.
"With over 500 films in its archive, there's no shortage of issues that POV films haven't touched: LGBTQ rights, race, immigration, gender equality," said Chloe Gbai, POV Shorts and streaming producer. "Bringing these films back through the Playlist, Americans can rediscover classic films that still have touchpoints with today's issues, cutting through the present-day clutter with a simple curated list of noteworthy docs."
The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez
In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs shot and killed Esequiel Hernández Jr. Mistaken for a drug runner, the 18-year-old was, in fact, a U.S. citizen tending his family's goats with a .22 rifle. He became the first American killed by U.S. military forces on native soil since the 1970 Kent State shootings. The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, explores Hernandez's tragic death and its torturous aftermath. His parents and friends, the Marines on patrol, and investigators discuss the dangers of militarizing the border and the death of one young man. A co-presentation of Latino Public Broadcasting. An official selection of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Renowned sculptor John Houser has a dream: to build the world's tallest bronze equestrian statue for the city of El Paso, Texas. He envisions a stunning monument to Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate that will honor the contributions Hispanic people made to building the American West. But as the project nears completion, troubles arise. Native Americans are outraged — they remember Oñate as the man who brought genocide to their land and sold their children into slavery. As El Paso divides along lines of race and class in The Last Conquistador, the artist must face the moral implications of his work. A co-production of Independent Television Service (ITVS). A co-presentation of Latino Public Broadcasting, Native American Public Telecommunications and KERA Dallas/Fort Worth.
Revealing stark realities for the poorest of rural Cubans with unique access and empathy, this is the story of a 30-something mother of four longing for a better life. The tension between wife and aging husband—one desperate to leave, the other content to stay—builds into a high stakes family drama after her brother and the couple's neighbors escape.A co-production of ITVS. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Imagine that your life has fallen apart — maybe you've been tortured or raped, or maybe you've gotten out just in time. You'll have one chance to start a new life in the U.S., and an hour to tell your story to a neutral bureaucrat. Now imagine yourself on the other side of the desk, listening to people seeking refuge from any one of a hundred countries. The law says you can offer asylum if you find that someone has a well-founded fear of persecution. Three times a day, your job is to decide their fates. Political asylum — who deserves it? Who gets it? With unprecedented access, filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson enter the closed corridors of the INS to reveal the dramatic real-life stage where human rights and American ideals collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth.
Playlist #2: "School's Out" | Monday, May 27, 2019
Filmed with vérité intimacy for nearly a decade, QUEST is the moving portrait of a family from North Philadelphia. Beginning during the Obama presidency, Christopher "Quest" Rainey and his wife, Christine'a "Ma Quest," raise a family while nurturing a community of hip-hop artists in their basement home music studio. Epic in scope, QUEST is a vivid illumination of race and class in America and a testament to love, healing and hope. Official Selection, 2017 Sundance Film Festival. A co-production of ITVS.
Class of ’27 presents distinct yet complementary personal stories from places too often ignored in America. Each of the three portraits demonstrates that children from distressed communities, despite their circumstances, are more likely to grow into productive and civically engaged adults if they receive support in their earliest years. Committed to supporting the children’s potential, each community is a place of hope, inspiration and resilience.
Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie)
Since the age of 4, Angy Rivera has lived in the United States with a secret that threatens to upend her life: She is undocumented. Now 24 and facing an uncertain future, Rivera becomes an activist for undocumented youth with a popular advice blog and a YouTube channel boasting more than 27,000 views. She steps out of the shadows a second time to share her story of sexual abuse, an experience all too common among undocumented women. Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie) follows Rivera's remarkable journey from poverty in rural Colombia to the front page of The New York Times. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Only the Young follows three unconventional Christian teenagers coming of age in a small Southern California town. Skateboarders Garrison and Kevin, and Garrison's on-and-off girlfriend, Skye, wrestle with the eternal questions of youth: friendship, true love and the promise of the future. Yet their lives are also touched by the distress signals of contemporary America — foreclosed homes, abandoned businesses and adults in financial trouble. As graduation approaches, these issues become shocking realities. With sun-drenched visuals, lyrical storytelling and a soul-music soundtrack, Only the Young embodies the innocence and candor of its youthful subjects — and of adolescence itself.
Playlist #2: "School's Out" | Monday, May 27, 2019
Biweekly Roundup Cuts Away Clutter of TV
New York, N.Y. — May 13, 2019 — Dozens of apps, thousands of shows—where does one start in today's golden age of television? POV Playlist, launching today in inboxes across the country, promises to cut through the noise with a biweekly curation of the most powerful and hard-hitting docs that have premiered on PBS since 1988. Films from America ReFramed, the sister series on WORLD Channel, will also feature on the POV Playlist.
The POV Playlist features four thematically linked films coming from POV's 31-year archive of independent documentaries. Audiences can find out about upcoming titles from the Playlist's biweekly newsletter or by visiting the website of POV's parent company, American Documentary, at amdoc.org.
Films in each Playlist will be available to stream for free online and on the PBS app for two weeks, after which the films' availability will expire and the Playlist will refresh every two weeks with a new thematic package of shows.
"With over 500 films in its archive, there's no shortage of issues that POV films haven't touched: LGBTQ rights, race, immigration, gender equality," said Chloe Gbai, POV Shorts and streaming producer. "Bringing these films back through the Playlist, Americans can rediscover classic films that still have touchpoints with today's issues, cutting through the present-day clutter with a simple curated list of noteworthy docs."
Playlist #1: "Getting Somewhere" | Monday, May 13, 2019
The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez
In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs shot and killed Esequiel Hernández Jr. Mistaken for a drug runner, the 18-year-old was, in fact, a U.S. citizen tending his family's goats with a .22 rifle. He became the first American killed by U.S. military forces on native soil since the 1970 Kent State shootings. The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, explores Hernandez's tragic death and its torturous aftermath. His parents and friends, the Marines on patrol, and investigators discuss the dangers of militarizing the border and the death of one young man. A co-presentation of Latino Public Broadcasting. An official selection of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Renowned sculptor John Houser has a dream: to build the world's tallest bronze equestrian statue for the city of El Paso, Texas. He envisions a stunning monument to Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate that will honor the contributions Hispanic people made to building the American West. But as the project nears completion, troubles arise. Native Americans are outraged — they remember Oñate as the man who brought genocide to their land and sold their children into slavery. As El Paso divides along lines of race and class in The Last Conquistador, the artist must face the moral implications of his work. A co-production of Independent Television Service (ITVS). A co-presentation of Latino Public Broadcasting, Native American Public Telecommunications and KERA Dallas/Fort Worth.
Revealing stark realities for the poorest of rural Cubans with unique access and empathy, this is the story of a 30-something mother of four longing for a better life. The tension between wife and aging husband—one desperate to leave, the other content to stay—builds into a high stakes family drama after her brother and the couple's neighbors escape.A co-production of ITVS. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Imagine that your life has fallen apart — maybe you've been tortured or raped, or maybe you've gotten out just in time. You'll have one chance to start a new life in the U.S., and an hour to tell your story to a neutral bureaucrat. Now imagine yourself on the other side of the desk, listening to people seeking refuge from any one of a hundred countries. The law says you can offer asylum if you find that someone has a well-founded fear of persecution. Three times a day, your job is to decide their fates. Political asylum — who deserves it? Who gets it? With unprecedented access, filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson enter the closed corridors of the INS to reveal the dramatic real-life stage where human rights and American ideals collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth.
Filmed with vérité intimacy for nearly a decade, QUEST is the moving portrait of a family from North Philadelphia. Beginning during the Obama presidency, Christopher "Quest" Rainey and his wife, Christine'a "Ma Quest," raise a family while nurturing a community of hip-hop artists in their basement home music studio. Epic in scope, QUEST is a vivid illumination of race and class in America and a testament to love, healing and hope. Official Selection, 2017 Sundance Film Festival. A co-production of ITVS.
Class of ’27 presents distinct yet complementary personal stories from places too often ignored in America. Each of the three portraits demonstrates that children from distressed communities, despite their circumstances, are more likely to grow into productive and civically engaged adults if they receive support in their earliest years. Committed to supporting the children’s potential, each community is a place of hope, inspiration and resilience.
Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie)
Since the age of 4, Angy Rivera has lived in the United States with a secret that threatens to upend her life: She is undocumented. Now 24 and facing an uncertain future, Rivera becomes an activist for undocumented youth with a popular advice blog and a YouTube channel boasting more than 27,000 views. She steps out of the shadows a second time to share her story of sexual abuse, an experience all too common among undocumented women. Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie) follows Rivera's remarkable journey from poverty in rural Colombia to the front page of The New York Times. A co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.
Only the Young follows three unconventional Christian teenagers coming of age in a small Southern California town. Skateboarders Garrison and Kevin, and Garrison's on-and-off girlfriend, Skye, wrestle with the eternal questions of youth: friendship, true love and the promise of the future. Yet their lives are also touched by the distress signals of contemporary America — foreclosed homes, abandoned businesses and adults in financial trouble. As graduation approaches, these issues become shocking realities. With sun-drenched visuals, lyrical storytelling and a soul-music soundtrack, Only the Young embodies the innocence and candor of its youthful subjects — and of adolescence itself.